Guard Dogs
by aflightoffancy
Summary: Max is pregnant and everyone in TC is on guard duty. Loose the Hounds series. MA.
1. Chapter 1

_This is the next in the series of stories that started with_ Loose the Hounds _. This was supposed to be a nice, fluffy little one-shot like I always try to write for Christmastime. Max and Alec and a baby, etc. Well, this sucker turned into a MONSTER that ran away with my little one-shot. It's a darn good thing I started earlier than normal, or it wasn't going to get done in time._

 _To date, the stories in this series are_ :

Loose the Hounds

Toys for Tots

Dogs of War

Dog Will Have His Day

Off the Leash

Leash Laws

New Dog Old Tricks

 _If you don't feel like wading through all that history, then as a little recap, there was a riot outside city hall that killed several Xs, and almost killed Max, which was a turning point in public sentiment. Since then the transgenics have legally taken over TC and formed a company that works for the government as well as private companies and individuals taking jobs that require their special skills. Max and Alec got together in the wake of the riot, and have persevered through far too many disasters. Because of the genetics involved, pregnancies are difficult for transgenics, but Max and Alec have managed it. Now… on we go!_

* * *

January

Max awoke to the feeling of cool air settling across her skin, goosebumps forming as the chill reached her. She wasn't wearing any clothes and she didn't like the cold. She never had, not since she'd fallen through the ice all those years ago.

Alec was pulling the sheets away and Max was about to smack him when he placed a light kiss low on her belly to one side. "Hello, baby one." He shifted to the other side of her belly and placed another light kiss there. "Hello, baby two."

They'd spent the day before with the medical types, who were having a lot of fun at her expense while managing her high risk pregnancy. Transgenics were just problem children, and that had resulted in… well… problems having children. Transgenics were hybrids, and hybrids were almost always sterile. She and Alec had been either compatible enough or lucky enough to beat the odds, but it was still dangerous, both to her and the twins she carried. Before she'd known she was pregnant, the tiny fetuses had already sent her body chemistry so awry she'd gone into seizures. The doctors had fixed that, but she was constantly going back for tests to make sure everything was as it should be.

That she was having twins had only complicated things further. TC's veterinarian and go-to medical expert, Dr. Peterson, had initially told her she was pregnant when Alec had rushed her in because of the shakes. Dr. Peterson had been most concerned with that at the time and only confirmed the pregnancy. Once they'd done more testing, however, they'd learned it was twins she was carrying, and she and Alec had both had to take a seat at that little bit of news. Since then, they'd had some time to process, and they were making plans.

None of that mattered, however, when her husband was lying next to her, kissing her still flat belly, and whispering to their unborn children. The doctors kept referring to them as Baby One and Baby Two, so that's what they were doing too until they came up with something better.

"You wanna tell me why you're freezing me to death?" Max asked, one eyebrow raised.

Alec looked up at her and grinned. "Just saying good morning to the kiddies."

"You can't do that while I still have covers on?" she griped.

Alec got that glint in his eye, the same one that had resulted in the very reason that she had been sleeping naked.

"Cold, Maxie?" He was braced on his elbow to one side of her, clearly enjoying the view.

"What do you think?" she snapped, but there was no real heat behind it. They'd played this game before, and she knew it was going to end well for both of them.

"I think maybe I better make sure you're warm enough." He shifted closer again and placed another kiss on her abdomen. "Sorry, babies. I have to take care of your mom now." He kissed his way up her body, paying special attention to her breasts, and to that spot on her neck that did all kinds of lovely things for her, until he covered her body with his.

"You know we're supposed to have a meeting this morning with the people from the Rafferty job," she managed to gasp out. She could barely think straight when he was using his mouth for a much better use than nonstop talking. She had to say something, though. They were supposed to be responsible adults, not randy teenagers who couldn't control their urges.

"I don't want to talk about Rafferty or their stolen genetically altered potato right now," he answered.

"They're going to pay us a fortune to-"

Alec cut her off with a searing kiss, settling himself more comfortably against her and Max decided that the Great Potato Caper, as they had been calling it, could definitely wait.

* * *

 _More tomorrow… This is just to get us started. This puppy is 12 chapters, and to the best of my ability, I'm going to get a chapter posted every day leading up to Christmas. Fair warning. Some are absolute fluff, and some are very, very_ not _fluff._


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you very much for the kind reviews! Now let's see what kind of mischief these two can find, eh?_

* * *

February

Alec stood perfectly still in a pristine black suit and tie, a few feet behind and to one side of Andrew Rafferty, CEO of Agri-Genome, LLC, and owner of the sacred genetically altered potato that had been giving them so much trouble. Other company employees were seated around the table, along with a group from another company in the same line of work. Alec's team was on bodyguard duty, and Alec was pointman as usual.

Honestly, this sort of gig was below the usual level for his team. They were the most highly skilled team working at Specialist Services Incorporated, more affectionately known as Freak, Inc. They usually left the more run of the mill security work to others. It was Alec's team though that had recovered the stolen files, and Rafferty had requested they be the ones to guard him while he was at this business meeting with some other bigwig in the ag business.

" _Alpha One, Base,_ " Alec heard Dix call through his earpiece.

"Go for Alpha One," Alec replied quietly. For Dix to be calling him, something had to be up. His gaze sharpened, looking for trouble at the incredibly boring business meeting, but there was still nothing to raise any alarm.

" _Alec, you need to get back to TC_." Dix didn't exactly sound panicked, but he didn't sound calm either.

Alec didn't bother demanding an explanation. Dix wouldn't have bothered them on the job if it wasn't important. "Alpha Two, take point."

" _Copy, Alpha One_ ," Slick answered. He was Alec's second in command and he could easily step up.

Alec knew that Slick could handle it, and the rest of the team would shift to their secondary positions for just such a contingency. Usually that contingency was because one of them was hurt, but this counted just as well.

Slick came through the door and nodded to Alec as he took his place. Rafferty seemed to notice there was a shuffle going on, but Alec gave him a reassuring smile to let him know there wasn't an issue.

After that it was a race. Alec took one of the motorcycles they'd used as a motorcade of sorts on the trip there, and headed for TC. "Dix, I'm on my way. What's going on?"

" _You need to get to the infirmary_."

Just those words had Alec blinking as the blood drained from his face and he felt lightheaded. "Max?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. She'd had an appointment that morning. Alec hadn't been able to go because of the security detail.

" _She's ok_ ," Dix said, " _but_ …"

"But _what_?" Alec demanded.

" _But she's nuts_ ," Mole cut in. " _She's yellin' at everybody and freakin' the docs out. Get down there before she scares 'em off_."

"On it," Alec replied, and raced as quickly as possible through traffic and checkpoints to get to TC. Thanks to their government work, the teams all had bulletproof paperwork to get them through checkpoints quickly even though they weren't technically citizens, or legal at all, really.

The guards saw him coming when he arrived and already had the gates open. One of them even strode up and took the bike from Alec so he could run. Ever since news had got out that Max was pregnant, it had become everyone's duty to protect her. They all knew now how difficult it was going to be to have children, and each pregnancy had become precious.

Alec blurred to the infirmary, but was stopped by a group of people blocking his way when he arrived in the lobby. He'd made sure the waiting room was better fitted out in the last month. He'd found comfortable chairs and a TV, and so on, but none of that was being used. The medical types were either huddled in groups, or milling around, wringing their hands. Normally, Alec barely saw one or two of the doctors at a time, but this looked like most of them, and Alec quickly realized why.

He heard a loud crash followed by Max screaming, "Get out!"

Dr. Peterson, their resident veterinarian, shot out a second later followed by another clang as something metal crashed against the door he'd just come through.

"Where's Alec?" Dr. Peterson said, sounding more frazzled than Alec had ever seen him. He was a shorter, scruffy-looking young man, who'd come through for them time and time again, but today had obviously tested his abilities. "I told you people to find Alec!"

"I'm here." Alec pushed his way through the herd of doctors. "Somebody want to tell me what's going on?"

Peterson slumped in relief at the sight of him. "Oh, thank goodness. Alec you've got to calm her down. This isn't good for her. Her blood pressure has to be through the roof."

"What did you morons do?" he demanded, almost a growl. Every protective instinct he had was on full alert.

"Alec, put the gun away." Peterson snapped. "I've had a bad morning already. I don't need that, too!"

Alec realized he'd pulled his gun and was holding it in a death grip at his side. His wife was upset and his immediate unconscious reaction had been to end whatever or whoever was causing it.

Alec took in a slow breath through his nose, and out through his mouth. He carefully put his gun back in the holster clipped at the small of his back and pried his fingers off the grip. He looked at Peterson and held his hands up to show he was unarmed. "Sorry," he said. "I get tense when Max is screaming." He looked around and realized the other doctors had backed away in fear, making a wide ring around him. This was why Peterson was the one who usually dealt with them one on one.

"Fine," Peterson said, still miffed. "Now, get in there."

"What set her off?"

"We gave her some news and she reacted badly."

"What news?" he asked, and his fingers itched to reach for his gun again.

"We were going through her check-up this morning and realized we were hearing a third heartbeat. We've confirmed it now. It's not twins, Alec. It's triplets."

Alec wasn't sure what happened after that, but next thing he knew he was sitting on the floor with his head between his knees. Dr. Peterson was saying something, but he couldn't quite tell what it was over the ringing in his ears.

"Alec? Alec, can you hear me?"

Alec blinked, twitching when he felt someone taking his pulse. "What…" He licked his lips, trying to get some feeling back in them. "What happened?"

Peterson smiled. "I told you about the triplets and you tried to pass out on us."

Alec's eyes widened. "You're sure?" he asked. Alec didn't know whether to jump for joy or throw up. How was he supposed to take care of three babies? He knew next to nothing about babies, and absolutely zero about being a father. How on earth could he make this work? They were going to need a bigger apartment. He was going to have to bring in more supplies, get more baby clothes, find another crib, get…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Peterson said. "I guess it's better than Max wanting to kill us, but hyperventilating isn't much better."

"Sorry," Alec said, forcing himself to focus. Manticore had trained him better than this. He didn't show emotion. He didn't show distress. He didn't let others see that he was struggling. Not that he was struggling. Another baby. Three babies. Three. Babies. With the woman he loved. Three babies with Max. How could that ever be a bad thing, or even a questionable thing?

"Better," Peterson said. "You with us now?"

Alec looked up and saw a ring of anxious doctors hovering, but still wary. He was still armed after all. Alec nodded and held out a hand. "Help me up."

Peterson grabbed his hand and hauled him to his feet. "You good?" He waited for Alec to nod again. "Fine. Now get in there and calm your wife down."

Alec mentally psyched himself up. Max didn't have time for this. Their children didn't either. He walked to the metal swinging doors that led into the infirmary and poked his head through. "Max? You in here?"

A second later, a metal bedpan clanged into the door a mere whisper from his head.

"Hey!" Alec slipped through the door, eyes peeled for any more flying medical equipment. "Knock it off, Max! You trying to kill me here?"

There was no answer and Alec looked around, but didn't immediately see her. "Max?"

"Go away!" she shouted, but there was a tiny wobble in her voice. He hated that wobble. It made him want to tear people apart for causing it. It did, however, give him an opportunity to zero in on her from the sound.

Alec walked to one of the side rooms and peeked in. Max was standing next to the exam table. She was wearing a hospital gown, her hair was a mess, and she was holding one of those little curved metal dishes that always seemed to be around for some reason. She was thumping it on the exam table with enough force that Alec though it had to be hurting her hand.

"Max?"

She stopped thumping the basin on the table, but didn't turn.

"Maxie, you want to tell me what's going on? I'm… I'm worried here."

She turned toward him, and he could see that rather than angry she was absolutely terrified. He could see how the doctors wouldn't know the difference. With Max, angry and terrified were pretty closely related. When she got scared, she hid it behind her fury.

"What are we gonna do?" she demanded. "I mean really? What are we gonna _do_ , Alec?"

"First," he said, inching closer, his hands up, "we're going to be very, very calm. The doctor's worried about your blood pressure."

Max practically snarled at him. "If one more person tells me to calm down, I'm going to scream!"

"Seem to be doing a lot of that anyway," he muttered, but she went on as if she hadn't even heard him.

"Three! We're going to have three!" she shouted, her voice getting higher and higher. "I'm having a _litter_!"

"Max, come on. People have triplets all the time. This isn't all on Manticore."

"Are you even listening to me?" she shouted. "Three babies! I only have two breasts, Alec!" She threw down the metal basin which made a horrible racket as it hit the concrete floor. She then grabbed her breasts as if they had somehow offended her. "How am I supposed to feed three babies?"

"Shifts?"

"You think this is funny?" she shrieked.

"Not really." He moved forward and grabbed her wrists, drawing her hands away from where she was still clenching her boobs. "Don't want to damage these, do you? We're going to need them before too long."

"HA!" she said too loudly, and wrenched her hands from his grasp. "That's what you think!" She shook her head and backed away from him, then started pacing in a circle around the exam table. "Did they tell you the rest?"

"What?"

"They didn't, did they? Cowards!" she shouted, wanting to make sure the doctors in the lobby heard her.

"What is it, Max? Is something wrong? Are the babies…" He felt the blood draining from his face again, and he wanted to find a place to sit.

Max didn't realize, however, and kept ranting. "They say the babies are growing slower than normal. Normal for a _human_. They think I'm going to be pregnant for an _indeterminate_ amount of time. That's what they keep saying. They think I could be pregnant for months longer than normal. Months!"

She threw her hands up in frustration, or disbelief, or… he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he could breathe again. The babies were fine, and Max was just freaking out. That was doable. He'd been dealing with Max's blow-ups since they'd met. He tolerated her temper, and she put up with him being a smart-mouthed jerk.

Alec rushed forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, giving her a shake for good measure to make sure she was paying attention. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he said angrily. "I thought something was wrong with the babies." He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him. She struggled for a moment and then completely relaxed as if she were a puppet and her strings had been cut. She began to cry quietly, and finally wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his suit coat.

"And don't wipe your nose on my suit, Max. You think dry cleaning is easy to find these days?"

Max let out a hiccuping laugh. "Sorry I scared you. I just… I don't know what we're going to do. I still don't."

"Sorry I wasn't here when they gave you the news," he replied. "I should have been."

"You were on a job," she countered. "The world doesn't stop just because I got knocked up."

"Still, I should have been here to freak out along with you," he said, and meant it. He wasn't going to miss any more appointments if it could be helped.

"Whatever. I shouldn't have freaked out. I know it's not good for me."

"If it makes you feel any better, I tried to pass out." That got a laugh out of her, which made his humiliation worth it.

"Three babies," she whispered. "Alec, we're… we're gonna be outmanned."

"Outgunned, too. That's a lot of baby vomit they're going to be spewing."

Max nodded against his chest. He leaned down and placed a kiss against her hair. "We'll figure it out, ok?"

"Ok." Max released him, and backed up a step. "I'm going to have to apologize to them, aren't I?"

"The doctors? Probably." Alec shrugged. "Or not. Personally, I don't mind if the docs are scared of us. It keeps them from getting ideas."

They both turned when there was a knock at the door to the exam area. Dr. Peterson was standing there looking nervous. "You going to threaten to disembowel me again?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Maxie, you didn't," Alec said, playfully aghast.

"I did."

"Well, that's just dumb. You know it's a lot more effective just to break their necks."

Peterson glared at him. "You're hilarious, Alec."

"I know, right?" he said, and grinned broadly.

Peterson chuckled, then his expression turned serious. "Sit down for me, Max," he ordered. "Let me check your blood pressure."

Max obeyed. She hopped up on the exam table and held out her arm. "Sorry," she offered, embarrassed. "I, uh… don't do well with surprises."

"Ya don't say," Peterson relied wryly as he wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm and began to inflate it.

Alec hopped up to sit beside Max on the exam table and put his arm around her. She leaned into him and relaxed into his side. Peterson and Alec shared a look and the doctor nodded his thanks.

"Better," Peterson said. He removed the cuff and tossed it to one side. "Let's keep it that way, all right?"

"Yeah," Max answered. "Sorry."

"How did we miss a whole baby?" Alec asked.

"Max told you the babies are growing slower than we anticipated?"

"At high volume." Max jabbed her elbow into his stomach for his quip but he continued. "What about it?"

"The babies aren't as developed as we were expecting and one masked the other. We just missed it. But…" He trailed off, and Alec didn't like the grave expression one little bit.

"What is it?" He tightened his arm around Max.

The doctor looked at Max worriedly, obviously not wanting to upset her again.

"Say it," Max ordered. "I'll behave."

Peterson sighed and nodded. "The third baby… it's weaker."

"What does that mean?" Alec asked past the constriction in his throat.

"The baby is smaller than the other two, and the heartbeat is weaker."

"A runt," Max whispered.

"A baby," Peterson chastised gently. "And we're going to be watching you like a hawk from now on."

"You weren't doing that already?" she asked, appalled. Alec knew she was already chaffing against their demands that she come in so often for tests, diet changes, etc.

Peterson laughed at her expression. "I seem to remember you promised to do whatever was necessary. I'm going to hold you to it, Max."

For once in her life, Max nodded meekly. Alec knew she was thinking the exact same thing he was. They would do absolutely anything for the little lives she was carrying.

"Max said you've given up on the nine month calendar?"

"Different animals have vastly different gestation periods. We were aiming for human, but your DNA has decided on a longer timeline, so we're going to take it one step at a time. Elephants can be pregnant for 22 months, some sharks are up to three years, and Max is carrying DNA from both. You, too, Alec."

"Years?" Alec asked wide-eyed.

Peterson laughed. "I don't think we're talking nearly that long, but it's going to be longer. We need to get a handle on the growth rate. So… we'll see, all right? Once we have a better idea, we can pin down a better due date. Sound good?"

"Ok," Alec said, and exhaled slowly. "Triplets." He slid off the exam table and turned. Rather than let Max do the same, he grabbed her around the hips and lowered her to the ground. "We can do this."

Instead of smacking him for his high-handed behavior, Max just smiled and leaned back into him. Once again, Alec could kick himself for missing the appointment, and letting Max have her freak-out session alone. This was definitely a two person mission.

"Can we head out then?" he asked. He began looking for her clothes so she could change out of the hospital gown. Alec wanted to take Max back to their apartment and become better acquainted with Baby Three in the privacy of their own home.

"Of course. We'll see you back here bright and early in two days. Ok, Max?"

"Sure thing."

"We'll both be here," Alec promised.

"And if you could come unarmed, we're appreciate it," Peterson added, eyebrows raised.

"Ah, come on, Doc." Alec grinned. "You wouldn't recognize us if we weren't threatening you."

Peterson just shook his head and walked away from them. "My dad wanted me to be a lawyer," he muttered under his breath, "but no… I went with vet school and got homicidal cats."

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	3. Chapter 3

March

Max lay on the exam table while Dr. Peterson went through his usual rigmarole. The stethoscope was cold against her stomach, but she didn't flinch. Peterson moved the instrument this way and that listening to the babies. He paused for several seconds, and Max remained silent. A few moments later, Dr. Gupta entered the room. She was Max's OB/GYN, and she smiled as she walked in. She was young, fresh out of med school and her time specializing, and she'd jumped at the chance to come to Terminal City.

"Good morning, Max," she said, blowing a bit of her bangs off her face. She had long dark hair worn in a braid. The tiny woman pulled a pair of gloves from the box on the counter. Max had told her they weren't necessary, but she always insisted.

"Morning," Max echoed.

"How are we today?"

"Ok. A little tired maybe. Feeling a little…" She shrugged. "I don't know…" And she didn't. She hadn't felt great the night before, and she still wasn't feeling the best this morning.

Dr. Peterson's eyes met Dr. Gupta's and Max didn't like the silent communication at all.

"Well then, let's see what's going on," Dr. Gupta said. She took Peterson's place and he headed for the door.

"I'm going to go set up for what we had planned today, ok? It might take a minute, so just hold tight." He gave her what was supposed to be a reassuring smile, but it was strained, and Max felt the hairs on her neck prickle in fear.

"What is it?" she asked.

Peterson sighed and knew he'd been caught. He had a horrible poker face. "Let us work for a bit, ok, and then we can talk. We need to run a couple of tests."

"Ok," Max answered, trying not to fly off the handle like she had the last time they'd had a "talk."

Max tried to remain calm as she heard Peterson walk out into the main area of the clinic. She didn't see who he was talking to, but he whispered, "Get Alec here, _now_."

Alec had gotten a call about an hour earlier, telling him he was needed in Command, and despite his misgivings, she'd told him to go. He'd refused and then she'd ordered him to go. Now she wished she hadn't.

Everything after that was a bit of blur. There were tests, lots of tests, and more doctors. Alec arrived in a huff, shouting and making demands, but they were all ignored and finally he gave up and chose to stand at her side, stoic and silent, the only sign of his distress how tightly he was gripping her hand.

Finally, the doctors left them alone. Max was told she could redress and she was so exhausted, she allowed Alec to help her into her clothes. They then sat side by side on the exam table.

Dr. Peterson returned and his face was grave, as it had been since the tests had started. He grabbed one of the rolling stools and brought it closer until he could sit right in front of them.

"As I'm sure you've guessed, I have to tell you something very serious."

They both remained silent, waiting for the axe to drop. They'd both been in this situation before. They knew all about doctors running tests, only to tell you that you were somehow deficient and there would be consequences.

"Baby three," he said, "has died in the womb." He stopped, waiting for his words to sink in.

Alec put his arm around her and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder, and let him wrap himself around her.

"I'm so sorry," Peterson said quietly. "Baby three was weaker, as you were aware, and the baby lost the battle."

"The others?" Alec whispered.

"The other two are doing well. They're strong and healthy."

"What…" His voice broke and Max turned her face into his chest, curling into him. She didn't have it in her to cry. This was so beyond that. "What happens to…"

Alec couldn't say it, and Peterson took pity on him. "Because the schedule is so slow for this pregnancy, we are still in the equivalent of the first trimester. That actually works in our favor. Max, your body will absorb the tissue and there is less danger to the other two fetuses. If this had happened later, the consequences could have been disastrous."

"This isn't disastrous?" Alec said sharply.

Peterson raised a hand in apology. "I'm sorry. I truly am. This was absolutely not how we wanted any of this to happen."

"Did we…" Once again it was Alec who spoke. Max didn't think she could. "Did we do something wrong?"

"No," Dr. Peterson said firmly. "This happens sometimes, and I'm sorry it happened to you. The baby may have had some sort of genetic issue, or… any number of things. We simply don't know why it was weaker than the others, and it wasn't able to survive." He cleared his throat. "Our focus now has to be on the other two babies, ok?"

"You're sure Max is all right?" Alec asked. Max felt like she was hearing him from a distance, but even so she could tell how scared he was, scared for her, for the babies. The remaining babies.

One of their children was dead.

Peterson was still talking, but Max wasn't hearing it. She didn't want to hear anything else from him. She couldn't bear it.

Alec slid off the exam table and turned to help her down as well. As soon as her feet touched the floor, he wrapped his arm around her and began to usher her from the room. Peterson must have left at some point, because he was nowhere in sight.

Alec walked her back toward their apartment, never breaking contact with her. In a daze, she heard him speaking into his cell, telling them to handle whatever came up. He opened the door, and urged her inside. He didn't stop in the main room. He kept going until they were in the bedroom. He let her sit on the edge of the bed and undressed her gently, carefully, as if she were made of glass. Normally, she would have hit him for treating her that way, but at the moment it felt true. She felt broken.

Alec helped her slide on one of her satin nightgowns, and then urged her to lie down. Max let him raise her feet. She stretched out and simply lay there, staring at the ceiling. She heard Alec change, and then he too stretched out on the bed at her side.

He slid lower until he was close to her belly. He set his hand on the gentle swell there and placed a delicate kiss against the satin. She felt the warmth of his lips through the nightgown, and finally felt the tears begin to gather.

"I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered. "I'm sorry we lost you."

Alec rested his head against her stomach, and she brought her hand up to brush through his hair. She felt the cloth against her grow wet and knew he was crying, too.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to meet you, baby." His voice shook and broke, but he kept going. "Mommy and Daddy love you."

"Alec," Max sobbed. She couldn't bear any more. She just couldn't.

Alec immediately stopped and raised his head. He scooted up on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. She turned toward him and pressed her face to his chest. Alec dragged the covers up over them both. He held her while they both cried, until eventually they were too tired for even that, and they fell asleep.

* * *

 _More tomorrow… And don't be throwing things at me. I warned y'all back at the beginning that some chapters would be fluff and some were definitely_ not _fluff._


	4. Chapter 4

_Okey dokey. Yesterday was bad. I was working through some issues. Let's get our couple into some more usual trouble, eh?_

* * *

April

"No. Absolutely not." Alec added a glare to emphasize it.

Max glared right back, and kept throwing clothes in her suitcase. "You know I have to go. There's no way around it."

"Of course there's a way around it. You don't go."

"Alec, this is a special senate committee hearing. They're talking about whether or not to grant us legal status. I've been subpoenaed and I have to be there to testify."

"We'll tell them you can't," he countered. "I can set up someone else to go with me. I-"

"Stop," Max ordered. "Just stop." She took a moment to center herself to keep from screaming at him. The doctors would yell at her again about her blood pressure. "I know this is about the baby."

Alec's jaw clenched. They were struggling to get back to normal after losing one of the babies. Over the past month they'd alternated between sadness, numbness, and anger, and Alec had settled on obsessively protecting her and the remaining twins to the point it was driving her insane.

"I get it," she said. She placed her hands over the barely visible swell of her belly. "I'm desperate to protect them, too. The thing is, going to this hearing is part of that. I have to secure their future. Right now, Secretary Gordon is in charge of Homeland Security and he's on our side. What happens when the administration changes? What if the next president or the next secretary thinks we're dangerous? I want to be legally recognized by then, and I want it ironclad. I don't want anyone to be able to take it away from us or from our kids."

"You think I don't know that?" he said, his voice inching higher. He must have heard it, because he took a calming breath. They'd been through some rough patches before in their marriage, but the last month had pushed them both. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm just…"

"Worried?" she tried.

"Terrified," he admitted. Alec slumped down on the bed beside the suitcase Max had been packing. She pushed it aside and sat beside him. He held out his hand, palm up for her to take. Max grasped it and twined her fingers with his.

"We both have to go," she said, going for straightforward fact. "You know it and I know it. So stop being a drama queen."

Alec's lips turned up in a smirk. "I'm not the one who screamed at Mole for putting too much cream in your coffee."

"I needed coffee," she shot back. "Not a cup of cream."

"And that would be why Mole ended up wearing it?" He raised his eyebrows in question.

Max scrunched up her face. "I apologized, didn't I?"

"I'm just saying, I'm not the only drama queen around here." His amused expression fell. "I have to protect you, Max. I can't let _anything_ else happen."

"I know," she said, squeezing his hand tightly. "I know."

"I'll kill the first senator that even looks at you funny. You know that right?"

"I'd be pissed if you didn't. I'm counting on full, unreasonable caveman Alec to defend his pregnant woman."

"Can I ask them to put that on my name tag?" he asked hopefully.

Max shrugged. "Sure."

Alec nodded. "Ok, then. Let's do this." He released her and stood, then started gathering clothes to throw in the suitcase along with hers.

Max stood as well, and together they got everything they would need for the trip. All the while, they talked, they made plans, and they got it all settled both for the hearing and for TC. It felt good to work as a team, and for the first time since they'd lost Baby Three, she felt like they were going to be ok. Yes, they'd lost something precious, and they'd never forget that, but that didn't mean that they'd lost everything. They still had something precious to protect, and they were going to do it together.

* * *

Max and Alec walked down the aisle toward the front of the chamber. The line of senators was up on their slightly elevated stand. A large group of press members were sitting or kneeling on the floor in between the senators and the table set up for the people who were testifying to sit. The flashes were almost blinding in their efforts to get the perfect shot of the transgenics as they walked in. Video cameras were also set up, already broadcasting live, so everyone could see what the Freaks were going to say on national TV.

Max and Alec moved toward the front, his hand at her back. He wore a dark suit and Max had chosen a bulky sweater with a nice jacket over it to hide her pregnancy. They weren't ready for the world to know yet, and they didn't want it to cloud the issue at the hearing.

They were followed by Fred and Barney, the two wolfish transhumans who were Max's personal guards. A hush had fallen over the room on their entrance, and it remained as they walked past the gallery which was crowded to the point of being stuffed. They pointed and stared, and Fred and Barney were getting as much notice as anything. They looked just wolfish enough to give the ordinaries an opportunity to stare at the freakier types of Freaks.

She knew Alec was nervous, although his face was as calm as ever. He looked slightly amused by the circus around them, but she could tell he was on high alert. They were all unarmed, which only added to the tension.

They reached the table, and Alec pulled out a chair for Max to be seated first. He then sat beside her. Barney and Fred took designated seats directly behind her. The only way they'd been allowed to bring the guards was to say they were there to offer testimony on behalf of the residents of Terminal City, so they couldn't exactly look like they were bodyguards, even though they were.

The senators were trying to keep their cool, but clearly they were uneasy at having the infamous Freaks in their midst. One man in particular was looking behind her, and she knew he was staring at Fred. The senator's eyes widened, and she guessed Fred had to be smiling to show off his set of razor sharp canines. It was one of his favorite things to do.

Max turned to glare at him, but then decided against it. Why should Fred hide his teeth? The government had made him that way. They could at least acknowledge what they'd done.

Max and Alec were sworn in, and then everyone turned their eyes to the senators, anxious to see how they were going to handle the situation now that they had the actual people in question in front of them.

"Good afternoon," the senator at the center of the group, Senator Franklin, said. He was an elderly man with a ruff of thin white hair and a pair of gold rimmed glasses. He was the chairman of the committee and he was the one they would have to convince if they were to have any hope of convincing the others. "Please state your names for the record."

"I'm Max Guevara."

"Alec McDowell."

The senator nodded. "Thank you for coming."

"Sure," she said, although a subpoena was a little less polite than a phone call.

"If you would also state your position in regards to the topic at hand?"

"My husband and I are here as representatives of Terminal City where we live with other transgenics who escaped from the government project called Manticore."

The Chairman nodded again. "We've called you here because of several requests for legal status as citizens. The residents of your… group have no official identity papers or documentation. Is that correct?"

"Yes," she answered. "We're considered undocumented aliens. We had to apply through Homeland Security for special papers in order to travel here. All of us have to do that just to move around Seattle legally."

He nodded. "We have spent the morning hearing testimony from various experts and government agencies on this subject. Members of the military, genetics experts, as well as representatives of various national security agencies."

Max and Alec were well aware. They'd been watching the proceedings from their hotel room prior to being summoned to the hearing. The military jerks had claimed no prior knowledge of the Manticore project, although they had since become aware of it, and they were absolutely horrified by what had happened. That said, the freaks produced there were all dangerous and shouldn't be allowed out among the general populace for fear they would start eating babies and infiltrating high security complexes.

Well… they were wrong about the babies anyway.

After that the committee had called a pair of genetics experts, one of whom obviously had issues with transgenics because he testified loudly and passionately that they were barely more than animals that were being anthropomorphized by the media. He used the example of pet owners who attributed human characteristics to their animals, even though they were no more than intelligent cats or dogs. At best, the transgenics were like gorillas that had been taught sign language, but when it came down to it, they were simply animals that could not be left on their own.

Max had almost punched the TV during that little bit of testimony.

The second geneticist had been a lot nicer about them, except for it was clear that she would absolutely love to get her hands on one of them for dissection. They were _fascinating_ and should be protected for the advances in science that they represented.

After that, it had been a parade of intelligence people: FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, etc. Some said they were useful. Some said they were dangerous. Some said they needed to be watched, and giving them legal status would help with tracking them.

"Needless to say," Senator Franklin continued, "there have been many differing opinions."

"That's all right," Alec said with a friendly smile. "We have differing opinions on normal people, too."

"Is that a threat?" a different senator asked. His name was Baker, and he'd been an outspoken opponent to anything transgenic related. He was tall, handsome, and well spoken, so people had a tendency to listen to him.

"Oh, no," Alec said, all jovial pleasantness. "You seem like nice people. It's the ones who try to kill us when we go out that make us nervous."

"We have the reports. You're trained assassins," Baker replied belligerently. "How could you possibly be nervous?"

Alec's expression lost its pleasantness and became very serious. "Senator, I have lost count of the reasons. Setting aside the _years_ we spent, and the things we endured while at Manticore, there's the riot that killed three of our people, and almost killed another, as well as my wife. My best friend died when he was beaten and strung up by his ankles over a bonfire by a different mob. We lost another friend in the Jam Pony hostage situation while we were trying to protect a pregnant transgenic from being arrested for existing. Since the government has allowed us to own Terminal City we have faced death threats, a bombing, poisonings and torture. Max and I had to come here with a full security team for fear of what could happen. Yes, sir, we are nervous."

There was a hush that fell over the room. Much of what Alec described had played out on national TV. Everyone knew about the incidents which had helped to gain them some much needed sympathy. Max was just sorry so much pain had been needed to get people to listen.

Baker pursed his lips, clearly wanting to say more, but Franklin stopped him. "We are aware of the unfortunate circumstances you've described. That does not mean, however, that you should be granted citizenship."

"Sir, my wife and I spent the morning listening to the testimony. They called us useful. They called us dangerous. They called us a menace, or an experiment gone wrong, or animals or soldiers, or assassins, or monsters. There was one thing they never called us."

Franklin waved his hand to tell him to get on with it.

"People," Alec said into the hushed room. "They never called us people."

Max cleared her throat. She was never going to be as comfortable as Alec in front of the cameras, or just talking in general as Alec was, but this had to be done. They had to make them understand.

"We were born in this country," she said. "Maybe not to loving parents, or even to parents at all in the traditional sense, but we were still born here. We were raised here. The only reason we don't have any legal status is because we were hidden away. No one was ever supposed to know about us."

"You think we're dangerous," Alec added, "but when it comes down to it, that doesn't matter one little bit. You can hear from every expert in the country on whether or not to recognize us, but only one thing matters. We were born here. Everyone from the President down to the lowliest street rat has citizenship if they're born in this country."

"You _people_ seem to be doing well for yourselves," Baker cut in again. "What makes it so important to you?"

"Are your rights important to _you_?" Max asked, hostility inching into her tone.

Alec laid a hand on her leg. She was bouncing it in her agitation, and his touch was a reminder to calm down. This was too important to lose her temper.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Alec said, his tone respectful. "While we've been talking, I've referred to the woman beside me as my wife." He looked at each one of the senators. One looked bored. Some appeared mildly interested. A few were openly hostile.

"Yes?"

"We had a beautiful wedding, surrounded by our friends and family. The thing is, it's not recognized by anyone but us. We can't go to the courthouse, or get a marriage license. When we have children, there will be no recognition that they were born here. We have had several births in the past year, and these children have no legal status, just like their parents."

"Our lawyers are currently fighting deportation notices," Max said. "The government made us, and now it's trying to throw us out. Immigration officers have come to Terminal City several times demanding we produce papers or face immediate arrest and expulsion. Where are we supposed to go? We were born and raised _here_. We want to raise our kids here. All we're asking is that the government acknowledges what it did, and acknowledges _us_."

Everyone turned at the sound of a scuffle behind them. A man stood up several rows behind them. He was thin, with close cropped hair, wearing a suit that was several sizes too big. His wild eyes were what caught her attention, however.

He pulled a gun he'd somehow managed to sneak past the tight security and aimed it straight at Max. "How can you even listen to these _things_?" he shouted.

Fred and Barney began inching closer to him. The guards had stood as soon as they heard the shuffling. They were poised, ready to intervene at the first chance.

Alec stood and placed himself directly in front of Max. For once in her life, Max didn't argue at his need to protect her. She could sacrifice herself for others if needed, but right now, there were two lives directly depending on her staying alive. Alec knew that and felt exactly the same. The babies were the most important things now.

The gunman shifted his aim to the senators. "You people are supposed to protect us from these freaks of nature! And here you are listening to them!"

Max was watching him, peeking around Alec's side just enough to see. A wide circle had formed around him as terrified people tried to get away. Others were wisely heading for the exits, but that was making it difficult for the security people to reach the source of the problem.

"I voted for you Franklin," he said, zeroing in on the committee chairman. "You're a disgrace. You're listening to these monsters." His gun swung back toward Max and Alec. "They deserve to be put down like d-"

Fred pounced and Barney wasn't more than a heartbeat behind. Alec turned and wrapped himself around her as a human shield. She heard a shot, and then another, but she couldn't see, and no matter how she fought, Alec wouldn't let her move.

"We're clear!" Barney shouted, barely audible above the shouting as the spectators doubled their efforts to get out of the massive room.

After several moments, Alec finally relaxed his grip on her and uncurled from around her. He stood and then turned so they could both see what was happening. Fred was holding his side, where blood was easily visible. Barney was bleeding too, a graze running through his hair that was oozing blood down the side of his head and across his face. He was kneeling on top of the gunman, holding his arms twisted up behind him to keep him from moving.

One of the security team finally made it through the melee and produced a pair of cuffs. He snapped them on the gunman, and Barney rose. He and Fred then returned to stand on either side of Max and Alec. They weren't going to pretend any more that they were just another pair of Manticore alum willing to testify. They were lethal, they were angry and they were on guard duty. That they were bloody messes as well only added to the effect.

Max and Alec turned to see the senators beginning to peek out from behind their long raised desk. The media people were the only ones who hadn't moved and they were eating up every bit of the action.

"Is everyone all right?" Alec demanded. He was using his command voice, and everyone turned to pay attention. He looked around, gauging the situation. Fred and Barney were doing the same in case there was a second shooter. "Is anyone else hurt?" he asked again.

Senator Franklin rose from where he'd been hiding on the floor and returned to his seat. "In light of this, we'll have to continue at another time."

"No," Max shot back. "We're going home. You've seen what hate does. You have it right in front of you. You know exactly who we are, how we feel, and what we're asking. Either you'll do the right thing, or you won't. Now my friends are hurt. Once again, it's just us hurting. We're going to go and take care of them. Thank you for listening."

Alec helped her up. Together they walked to the back of the room and the double doors there. Fred and Barney stayed close, still on guard. No one dared try to stop them, or get in their way.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	5. Chapter 5

_Something fluffier today..._

* * *

May

Max walked down the hall with Mole at her side. Fred and Barney were walking with them as well. The two wolfish transhumans were still her go-to bodyguards, despite their injuries at the Senate hearing. They'd healed quickly, and as was always the case since her pregnancy, they'd taken to following her everywhere whether she liked it or not, even inside TC. She'd griped about it to Alec, but he just shrugged. He was all for some extra security.

Ever since the hearing, things had been tense. It had stirred up the anti-transgenic sentiment and they'd had several people try to get in. Most had been stopped before stepping a foot inside the gate, but one had been smart enough to get past. He'd tried to plant a bomb, but been caught in the act. Mole had offered to kill the guy and hide the body, but they'd decided to go with a more respectable route since they were trying to run an upstanding business these days. The man, the device, and video of the incident had been handed over to the sector police.

Mole stopped at the door to the conference room and opened it for her. He stood aside for her to go first, and then followed. Inside, the man and woman who'd been sitting at the table stood up.

"Hello. I'm Max. This is Mole."

They moved to the table and Mole pulled back a chair for her to sit. She raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior, but shrugged it off. She sat and Mole sat down beside her. Fred and Barney took up positions behind her while the two guards who'd already been in the room exited.

The two people simply remained standing, staring at Mole. This was a pretty common problem when dealing with Ordinaries for the first time, which was why Mole rarely did this sort of meet and greet. Alec was on a mission, however, and wouldn't be back for another day, so Mole had offered to step in.

"You two gonna sit?" he growled. "We ain't standing on ceremony."

The two jumped and quickly plopped into their seats, alternating between staring at Mole and pretending like they weren't staring at Mole. Max took it as a good sign that Mole hadn't threatened to shoot them yet. He was mellowing.

"Maybe you could introduce yourselves?" Max prompted, and once again they were startled. Max wanted to roll her eyes. It wasn't like he was snarling at them or anything.

The man cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. "I'm Roger Stephenson, CEO of FarmGene Technologies. This is my COO, Cynthia Barclay. We've come to hire you."

"We figured you weren't here for lunch," Mole said, still miffed.

"Not like we have time to eat anyway," Max muttered.

Mole glanced at her. He pulled out his phone and typed something into it, then put it away. He returned his glare to their guests. "Now, what can we do for you two?"

The gentleman ran his hand through his hair, clearly flustered, and Max almost wanted to take pity on him. He was a pretty typical looking businessman in his forties. He was wearing an expensive suit that didn't hide that he'd put on some pounds around his middle. His hair was thinning and he was going with the comb-over to hide it.

"We would like you to help us retrieve a set of files that were stolen," his partner said. Ms. Barclay seemed to have recovered faster. She was platinum blonde, cut in a bob, and dressed like a rich banker lady, or what Max imagined a rich banker lady would look like. She was in her fifties, Max guessed. Her little black dress was accented by a silk scarf clipped to her dress with a brooch.

"What kind of files?" Max asked. "This would have been a lot easier if you'd told us some of the details before you got here. We could have already been setting something up."

"This matter is too delicate to discuss over the phone," Ms. Barclay replied.

"Is it safe to discuss these matters," the man, Stephenson, cleared his throat again and his eyes darted back to Mole, "in front of… I assume this is your… bodyguard?"

Max did roll her eyes that time. People who came to them for help and then treated them like animals, especially the Transhumans, were her pet peeve.

Mole chomped on his cigar a little harder, but all he said was, "Get on with it before I get annoyed, will ya?"

"Mole is our third in command. He'll most likely be running your op, so don't tick him off."

"Oh," Stephenson said, turning bright red, "I apologize. We… this is all very new to us."

"Look, we're busy people. What do you need?"

"We need you to find a set of files that has been stolen by a company called Agri-Genome, which I believe you are familiar with. They specialize in genetically modified produce like our company does. We believe they have placed a mole, er…," he glanced worriedly at Mole, "a spy in our research division. We want them found and removed."

Max wanted to bang her head on the desk. If this was about that stupid genetically modified potato again, she was going to cry.

"We can't help you," Mole said. "You're right that we know Agri-Genome. They contacted us about the theft of their potato files and we traced the theft to you. We have a non-compete clause in our contract. We don't retrieve stolen property and then let the thief hire us to steal it back. Not going to happen."

Stephenson shifted uncomfortably in his seat, while his cohort pursed her lips in thought. "We know Agri-Genome hired you because Andrew Rafferty called us personally to brag that he'd paid you to get his files back. Honestly, we don't care about those files. We verified that Agri-Genome is behind the game and the files were useless."

Max sighed heavily. "So?"

The door opened abruptly and Sig walked in. Sig was a bulldog of a guy, not a transhuman, just built big and mean and ugly. He'd come to a truce with Max and Alec, but he was still a mass of testosterone that had to be kept on a tight leash.

"Here." He set down a plate with several sandwiches on it, some chips and an apple. He set down a bottle of water next to it. "Mole said you haven't eaten. Do it or I'm telling Alec."

Max's mouth opened and closed, but she wasn't sure what to say. Finally, she settled on, "Ok."

Sig nodded and walked back out, sparing a snarl for Fred, as was their usual habit. Mole ignored them and pushed the plate closer to her. "Eat," he ordered. Max realized she really was hungry and picked up one of the sandwiches. Sig had arrived so quickly, she wondered if he'd got the message and just brought his own lunch to give her.

"So the files you stole were useless," Mole said, as if they hadn't been interrupted. "Agri-Genome got 'em back. They're happy and you don't care. So what do you need us for? You can't figure out the spy in your research department?"

Ms. Barclay nodded. "Files related to our tomato plants were downloaded by someone in that department and the log was cleared. We don't know who did it, but we need the files found and we need the spy removed."

"We might have to put one of our people undercover in your lab," Max said. She finished the first sandwich and picked up a second. "Can you arrange that?"

Stephenson frowned. "They'll know your person is a fake. I don't think it will work. That section is bio-genetics."

"One," Mole said, "our people are pros at faking it. We do extensive research before sending anyone in, and maintain contact so we can assist with needed technical assistance or info. Two," he chomped on his cigar, "you'd be surprised how much we know about working in a genetics lab."

Stephenson and Barclay looked at each other and finally he nodded. Barclay pulled a flash drive from her pocket and handed it across the table. She shrank back slightly when Mole reached out, but finally dropped it into his waiting palm.

"That is all of our employee files, as well as a description of what was taken and the logs that were tampered with, etc."

Max split the apple with her bare hands and took a bite, savoring the sweetness. "Ok. We'll have our lawyers send you the contract as soon as it's drawn up. It shouldn't take more than a few hours. As soon as you sign and we receive payment, we'll get started. We'll need remote access to your systems as well so we can monitor computer usage. We have a tech team that can do that from here. That's easier than sending someone in, so we'll try that first while we get our person ready to go undercover."

The two businesspeople nodded. "Very well. We're staying-"

Mole stopped him. "We know. We'll send the stuff to the hotel by courier."

They looked from Max to Mole, stood, and hurried from the room as if the hounds were nipping at their heels.

"Apes are so twitchy," Mole grunted. "One talking iguana and they get all bent outta shape."

"It's the cigar," Max answered. "Nobody likes smokers nowadays."

"Whatever. Come on. I gotta get this info to Command."

Max stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Thanks for the food, by the way."

Mole looked embarrassed, which was just weird. She was used to all kinds of things: angry, disgruntled, pissed off, annoyed, bored, exasperated. She'd never seen embarrassed.

Max took the flash drive and threw it to Barney. "Get that to Command, will ya? I'll be right behind you."

Barney nodded, and grabbed Fred to drag him along out of the room. If she had to guess, they wouldn't be far, but they would give them a little privacy.

"You want to tell me why you're sending out an emergency page to get me food?" she asked. Now she thought of it, he was also holding doors for her and pulling out chairs.

Mole clamped his mouth shut around his cigar. He shifted from foot to foot, and then finally nodded. "Cause I'm gonna make sure as I can those kids you're carryin' are good and healthy."

"Didn't know you cared," she said, without any sarcasm. She genuinely hadn't thought it mattered to him, one way or the other.

"The people like me been talking to the docs. You X-Series have freaky genes and it's gonna be hard to have kids. Us transhumans? Not gonna happen. Ever. There's no way to make it happen." He worried the cigar between his lips. "The only way I'm ever gonna bounce a kid on my knee is if I'm the grumpy old uncle." He pointed at her belly. "So I'm gonna make sure you get fed. You got a problem with that?"

"Nope," Max answered. And for the first time since she'd met him, she kind of wanted to hug him. She let the feeling pass. Must be the pregnancy hormones.

"Stop lookin' at me like that," he growled. "Come on. Let's get to Command."

"Sure thing, Uncle Mole."

Mole huffed as they walked toward the door, but unless Max was mistaken, there was a tiny, tiny smile on his face.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you for the lovely reviews. For some reason, I love the idea of grumpy Uncle Mole._

* * *

June

"Are you sure about this?" Alec asked.

They were sitting in the back seat of a large black SUV. It was a relatively new acquisition and had been reinforced with bulletproof glass and armor plating. It looked like a perfectly normal SUV, but nothing was getting through it. Sig was driving and Marco was riding shotgun, literally in this case. The rest of their team rode in the SUVs in front and behind.

Freak, Inc. had been making money hand over fist and people had started to take notice. TC was becoming noticeably cleaner and they could see the construction and improvements. Instead of thieves, trangenics had become well-paying customers to all sorts of suppliers. Money meant power and word was getting out.

As a result, Max and Alec had started receiving invitations to various highbrow social occasions. So far, they'd ignored all of them, but given the unrest after the senate hearing, they'd decided some good press was worth the risk.

Max had hidden her pregnancy with bulky clothing at the hearing, and at any meetings with outsiders, but tonight she would be in front of the cameras and the world in a fancy designer dress with her hair up, and a very obvious baby bump on display. The gauzy pale blue gown had an empire waist, and the soft fabric draped over her gently to show off her curves. When he first saw her in it, Alec had been stunned speechless. Then he'd walked to her and she'd barely managed to keep him from messing up her careful makeup. He wasn't looking too bad himself in a classic tux, so fending him off had been through sheer force of will and not because she wanted to. They had to look respectable, though, when they arrived.

"Max, I'm serious," Alec said, when she didn't say anything. "If you don't want to do this, we'll turn this caravan around and go right back home."

The idea of putting herself on display as the paragon of transgenic motherhood wasn't making her happy, but the press was going to find out sooner or later that she was pregnant. It was better that it was on her terms, and not because some paparazzo had caught her looking big as a house, stuffing her face with pickles and ice cream, or whatever.

"I'm good," she finally said, "but if anyone does anything stupid, I'm never leaving TC again."

"We aren't going to stay long," he promised. "We just have to make nice with the richy-rich types. It's good to get to know people we might have to blackmail a favor out of one of these days."

The Governor's Ball was the be all and end all of the local social scene. The state capital was Olympia, but since the Pulse, moving from area to area was not only difficult, but dangerous. Therefore, the governor made a special trip every year and the local rich people made a big deal out of it. Max and Alec had never met the governor, but the mayor would be there, of course, and all of the other local movers and shakers.

"Granted," Alec said, unaware of her wandering thoughts, "if the mayor so much as looks at you funny, I'll rip his fingers off and feed them to him."

"I'll help," she said. They both had serious issues with the mayor after his part in the riot and the deaths that followed. "We won't get a chance though. He'll probably have an aneurism when he finds out we actually accepted the invitation."

"I'm still surprised they sent it," Alec said, not for the first time.

"They're politicians." She shrugged. "They're always looking for a way to get their picture in the paper. The Governor's Ball is old news. Nobody cares. But if we show up? Suddenly, everyone's looking again."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Max wasn't thrilled either. This was a dangerous excursion. They wouldn't be allowed to have their own security inside, and neither one of them could go armed. Max was used to that, but Alec always got twitchy when he didn't have a gun.

"Two minute ETA," Sig called back.

Alec nodded. He turned toward her and straightened his bow tie. "How do I look?" he asked. "I'm going to be in all these pictures, too, you know."

"Meh. You'll do," she said offhandedly.

"I'll do?" he asked, all mock outrage. "After all I've done for you! Who went out scavenging in the middle of the night because the smell of your shampoo was making you sick? Who yelled at that clueless X-4 who asked why you were getting fat?"

"He's lucky I didn't rip his arms off and beat him with them," she growled.

"But that wouldn't help your blood pressure, would it, so I yelled at him for you."

"Yeah, yeah. You're very good at yelling." She gave him a smirk. "Ok, fine. You look good in your tux." She shrugged again. "Face it. You're a looker. It's why I married you."

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Thanks. I think."

"When you two are done flirting, we're almost there," Sig barked angrily. "Get your mind on the job."

Alec turned toward the front, and Max could see the fire in his eyes. Sig did love to see how far he could push people above him in the chain of command. Alec leaned forward behind Sig and placed a hand on Sig's shoulder. He squeezed and hit the pressure point just right, and Sig's arm dropped off the steering wheel as the nerves went dead. Alec whispered, "Don't push me tonight, Sig. Keeping my pregnant wife calm and happy before she's barraged by the press _is_ my job."

Max realized she was bouncing her leg nervously. She hadn't even noticed, but Alec had. He'd been trying to distract her.

"Once we're out of the car, follow the exit plan," Alec ordered. He released his grip on Sig's shoulder and sat back. "I'll call the second we decide to leave. Be ready."

"Yes, sir," Sig said more respectfully, shaking his arm out to get some feeling back.

They pulled up in front of the Seattle Art Museum where the ball was being held. There was a minor delay while the cars in front of them let out their passengers, and then finally it was their turn. There was a roped off section of carpet where the guests were entering. To either side was a gaggle of video cameras, photographers and members of the press. Alec wondered if word had gotten out that their cars had left TC and headed this way. They'd had to travel through several checkpoints as well and stated their destination and reason for travel.

Members of Sig's team got out of the adjoining SUVs and came up around theirs. They scanned the area for any threats, and when they were satisfied, they opened the door closest to the museum, which was Alec's side. He got out of the car, and immediately there were enough camera flashes to light up the entire street in a blinding glow. He waved to the crowd of reporters, then turned back to her.

"You sure about this?" he asked again.

"Stop asking stupid questions and help me outta the car. Making a pregnant woman wear heels is just asking for trouble."

He laughed at her and then blocked the reporters' view while she got out of the car. She straightened, and made sure she was stable on her feet, then smoothed down the gauzy skirt of her dress. Alec set his hand on her belly for only a moment, and then smiled. "Time to put on a show, babies," he said, audible only to her transgenic ears above the clicking of the cameras.

He turned and offered her his arm. Max took it, and together they walked toward the building. Almost instantly, there was a lull as the reporters realized what they were seeing. There were several gasps, and then the flashes from the cameras became like a strobe light, followed by reporters shouting questions.

 _Max, when are you due?_

 _Do you know what the baby is?_

 _Is it a boy or girl?_

 _Who's the father, Max?_

 _Is the baby human?_

Max gripped Alec's arm, afraid he was going to jump into the crowd and start hitting reporters, but he stayed perfectly calm and aloof at her side. He spotted a reporter who they'd used before to get the word out about something they needed people to know.

Alec guided her toward the line of press and the perfectly coiffed blonde reporter who was wearing a sequined evening gown for the occasion. They stayed just far enough away to be out of reach, but close enough that the reporters could stick a microphone out.

"Hello, Diana," Alec said cordially. "How are you tonight?"

"Wonderful," the reporter said, pleased that Alec had picked her out of the throng. She turned toward Max, zeroing in like the vulture she was. It took everything Max had not to back away and press her hands over her stomach to protect her babies. "Max, you look stunning tonight. What a beautiful gown."

"Thank you," Max replied, trying to keep the growing panic from showing. The other reporters were massing around Diana, pushing and shoving to get their microphone or camera close enough to catch the conversation.

Ever since the riot that had killed most of the team protecting her, and almost killed her, Max had had problems with crowds. This group wasn't trying to rip her apart physically, but they were metaphorically baying for blood and she wanted away from them as soon as possible.

"Is there something the two of you would like to tell us?" Diana asked.

"We're just pleased to be here for the Governor's Ball," Alec said, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Max has been looking forward to a night out, and this is such a privilege to be invited."

"Especially with everything going on," Max added, "it was wonderful to be invited. It's good to know that there are people supporting us in the local government." That wasn't necessarily the case, but since they'd been invited, they were definitely going to play it that way.

"Oh, come on," the reporter cooed. "You know that's not what I'm talking about."

Alec laughed. "Obviously, we're expecting. Is that what you're asking? We didn't know it was a secret. After all, we spent quite a bit of time on TV just a few weeks ago."

"Do you know what you're having?"

"We're waiting to be surprised," Max answered, trying to look like a beatific expectant mother rather than a woman who wanted to shove the microphone down the other's throat.

"That's so nice. When are you due?"

"Not getting that out of us, Diana," Alec teased. "We don't want people showing up at our door fighting for the first pictures. You'll just have to wait and see."

"Any thoughts on names?" she tried again. Max wanted to roll her eyes. This woman was supposed to be a serious reporter, and here she was asking about baby names and due dates like one of the entertainment shows.

"Nice try," Max said, with what she hoped was a smile. "We're still working on that, too."

Max hated this part of her job. She wasn't good with the press, or faking being nice so people would think better of transgenics. She liked hitting things, and yelling at people. She would do it though until the day she died if it would help her people and eventually her children.

"Thanks, Diana," Alec said. "Have a good evening."

He maneuvered Max away from the line of press who'd surrounded their position and been hanging on every word. She once again took his arm, grateful for his support as they headed for the doors where guards were standing. Alec handed them the invitation from his breast pocket, and then they were inside.

Immediately, Max felt like she could breathe again. Crowds were just… crowds. She could deal with it, as long as she had a heads up, but in the back of her mind there was always the fear that the ordinaries were going to go berserk like they had that day outside the mayor's office. At any moment, they could turn on her and try to tear her apart like poor Yankee, Polo, and Bingo.

"You, ok?" he asked gently. They never talked about her fears, but Alec was a smart guy. He knew all about it, and did his best to make it better when he could.

"Yeah," she said. "As long as you promise we can sneak out the back. I'm not going back through that mob."

Alec nodded. "I'll help you climb out a bathroom window if it comes to that."

Max had to laugh at the picture that made. She wasn't exactly her normal lithe self at the moment.

The lobby of the museum, a large side room and several of the exhibits had been opened up for the ball. All around them, Seattle's elite were stopping to stare. They hadn't expected to have the two infamous transgenic leaders in their midst. Freak, Inc. was making too much money though, and the elite knew it. With money came power and influence and these people might privately think they were animals that needed to be caged, but publicly they were going to be ingratiating. She could actually see the shift in their expression when each person decided that they were going to be civil in hopes of using the relationship somewhere down the line.

One of the men in tuxes detached himself from the rest of the crowd and walked toward them, a genuine smile on his face. He was a middle aged Hispanic man with dark hair in a military cut.

"Chief Lopez," Alec said, and held out his hand as the head of the sector police approached them.

The police chief shook his hand and nodded politely. "Good evening," he said. "It's nice to see you again."

"You, too. I hope your office received the video?"

Their first meeting with the chief hadn't been their finest moment, but things had gotten better since then. Their security cameras had recently caught a burglary in one of the adjoining buildings outside TC. They'd called it in, and then handed over the video as part of their efforts to make peace with the sector police.

"Yes," the chief smiled. "Thank you again."

"We'll pass along anything else we run across," Max said. Of course, that was only true as long as it wasn't one of their own doing something stupid, or something questionable they'd sent them to do.

"Let me introduce you to a few people," Lopez offered, which made Max think even better of him. The chief had turned out to be a lot like Secretary Gordon. He was a reasonable man who was willing to work with anyone who could help keep Seattle from falling apart at the seams.

For the next hour, it was a continuous parade of introductions and name-dropping and innuendo about how wealthy and powerful they all were. It was exhausting and Max had no doubt her fake smile was starting to look a little crazy. Alec, however, was in his element. He could charm the birds out of the trees when he tried, and he was definitely working the room. For the most part, she left him to it. They both had their strengths, and they didn't get in the other's way. It was part of why they worked well together.

Her only respite from the misery of being polite was the hilarious behavior of Mayor Jackson as he worked his way around the party trying to avoid them. As soon as he realized they were moving in his direction, he hustled to the other side of the room, or into one of the adjoining rooms to get away from them.

Finally, a tall well dressed man walked up to them. He was fair haired and TV handsome. Even so, Max thought Alec still had him beat, hands down. She might be biased, but she'd still swear to it. The man had a tall, stately blonde on his arm. She was dressed to the nines and stank of old money.

"Governor Harding." Alec held out his hand, and the other man took it with a cool smile on his face. "And Mrs. Harding. Thank you for the invitation."

"I expected you to have the good grace to refuse it," the man replied, although his cool smile never wavered.

"I beg your pardon?" Max asked. She looked around, but the other partygoers were busy with their own conversations and paying little attention.

"I meant what I said. You've had your fun mixing with your betters. Time's up." The governor's voice was level, pleasant even, but there was nothing pleasant in his eyes.

"This party is for a very select group of people," Mrs. Harding said oh-so-politely. "You've made enough of a scene, which is what you wanted, I suppose."

"If you thought you could convince me to help with the bill to grant citizenship to you and your band of mercenaries, you were wrong."

"Funny, I thought we were here to have a few hors d'oeuvres and some pleasant conversation. Maybe a photo op if we were feeling frisky," Alec said. "I didn't know we were here for business."

The governor focused on Alec. "Let me be clear. You are not welcome here. Take your broodmare and go." He gave a disdainful look at Max's belly just for emphasis.

Max wanted to punch that smug look right off the bastard's face, but instead she felt tears beginning to form. Her stupid hormones had her all messed up and she had a tendency to cry over the stupidest things. This, however, was not stupid. This was bold, open-faced hate.

"Governor," Alec said calmly, a chilly smile on his face to match the governor's, "I believe you're up for election next year, aren't you?"

"I am." Harding raised an eyebrow, seemingly interested for the first time.

"That's what I thought. We came here tonight to find out whether or not that should be allowed, and I guess we have our answer."

"Are you threatening me?" Harding demanded coolly.

"Not you specifically," Alec answered. "Just your job. I will personally ensure that you lose."

Harding's eyes narrowed. "And how are you going to do that?"

"My husband's polls give him a twenty percent lead over his opponent," Mrs. Harding stated smugly, her expression still pleasant in case there were any cameras pointed their way.

"Well," Alec shrugged, "I could always release the video of this conversation where you called my wife a broodmare."

"What video?" Harding frowned in disapproval.

"And we have other ways." Alec's expression turned predatory. "You made my wife cry, and I don't let that sort of thing go."

Max brushed the telltale tear away. "I don't either. We'll be looking into you, Governor Harding. Every single scrap of paperwork you've ever produced, every person you've ever known, every single penny you've made or spent."

Alec said, "Sig, I want you at exit point Charlie."

"Who are you talking to?" the governor demanded.

"My security team who've been listening since we walked in here in case they were needed," Alec answered. "They'll also have the video. Thank you for your time, Governor. I'm glad we finally had a chance to talk."

"We'll be sure to tell the press how much we enjoyed the party," Max added, unable to hide the venom in her voice.

She turned, and Alec followed. She was so angry, she barely registered where Alec was leading her, but before she knew it, they were walking out of the building. It must have been a service entrance, but the SUVs were waiting, and Sig was standing beside theirs with the door open.

"In," he snarled, "before I go shoot the governor."

"Just get us out of here," Max said. She lumbered into the back seat, and Alec climbed in behind. The SUVs pulled away and as easily as that they were back on their way home. Her beautiful dress didn't seem as pretty now. She furiously pulled at the pins in her hair, but there were too many.

Alec placed his hands over hers to stop her. He methodically worked his way around her head and in a few minutes he had them all out and placed them in his pocket. He ran his hands through her hair and let it fall in soft waves around her face. He massaged her scalp and it felt wonderful after her hair had been pulled back so tightly.

Once again, she felt tears beginning to form. She shouldn't have expected any better, but it still surprised her sometimes. It didn't help that she was getting bigger by the day and didn't fit into any of her clothes anymore. Alec had anticipated the problem and had bought clothes of all sorts of sizes for her to choose from, but it still hurt when a jerk like Harding called her a broodmare.

"I'll ruin him, Maxie," Alec whispered. "I promise you that." He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned her head against his chest. "Please, don't cry."

"Mole's already working on it," Sig said from the front seat. "Luke and Dix, too. Harding's toast."

"Thanks, guys," she said, and meant it.

"I'm not the only one who loves you, Maxie," Alec murmured, pulling her close and resting his head against hers. "Don't forget it."

Max nodded and placed her hands over her belly protectively. She'd help them ruin him, and hopefully put someone else in the Governor's Office, someone who wouldn't mind that some of their constituents weren't exactly like the others. Her babies would be safe and happy. She'd make sure of it. They all would.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	7. Chapter 7

_Darn governor. Just adding another problem for Max and Alec. Today's chapter is going to be a bit short. For some reason tomorrow's chapter keeps getting away from me, and I'll need some extra time to spruce it up._

* * *

July

"Little Fella want something to drink?"

Max groaned. She was hanging over the toilet, more miserable than she'd been in years. It was worse than the shakes in some ways. She couldn't quit throwing up. It was the wrong time in a pregnancy for morning sickness, but her body didn't seem to care. It didn't confine it to the morning either. Her hormones were acting nuts, and the result was that she couldn't quit puking her guts out. She'd already ended up in the infirmary once for fluids since she couldn't keep anything down. If her body didn't get it together, they were going to demand she stay in the infirmary until it did.

"Cracker? Joshua read that crackers help when feeling sick."

"No," she groaned. "Nothing. I don't want anything else in there. It'll just come back."

Joshua disappeared from the bathroom and returned only a few seconds later carrying a blanket. He wrapped it around her and then sat down beside her on the floor. His huge bulk took up most of the room, but she didn't mind when he put his arm around her. She leaned into him and he rubbed her arm briskly, trying to warm her up.

"Max have to take care of herself. Babies need to eat."

"I know," she muttered against his chest. She knew she needed to eat something, but she was just completely wrung out. She couldn't even bring herself to get up off the bathroom floor at the moment.

They heard a knock at the apartment door, and then it opened. For a moment, she thought it must be Alec, but he wouldn't have knocked. He was also in Arizona with his team and wasn't due back until tomorrow. She was supposed to be in Command working on the specs for the upcoming Kline job, but then the barfing had started again and Mole had ordered her to go away.

Gem appeared in the bathroom doorway. "Wow. I heard it was ugly, but this is something else."

"Thanks a lot," Max snapped, but it didn't have much bite to it. She really was limp as a dish rag.

Gem nodded toward the main room with the sofa and TV. "Joshua, bring her in here. I brought something that might help."

Joshua hurried to comply. He was as anxious as anyone to help her. He didn't even ask, just bundled her up in the blanket and lifted her in his arms to transfer her to the living room. Max squawked a bit, but finally just gave up.

Joshua plunked her down on the sofa, and she sat very still. The jostling had set off her nausea again, and she might have to run right back to the bathroom, not that she had anything left to throw up.

"Here." Gem appeared in front of her. She'd brought a thermos, the kind where the cap was a plastic cup that screwed on the top. She opened up the thermos and poured the contents out into the cup. Almost immediately, a gentle minty scent permeated the air around her.

Gem handed her the cup and waited for Max to wrap her hands around it. "Just a sip or two," she cautioned. "When I was sick, mint tea helped me get through it."

Max nodded and took a hesitant sip. She didn't know if it was real or just the placebo effect, but the minty smell alone was helping calm her nausea. She held the cup up to her nose so she could breathe it in, and felt her muscles begin to relax. She'd been miserable and braced against the nausea for so long. "Thanks, Gem."

"No problem," the other woman said with a smile. "I would have come sooner, but I just heard about you getting sick."

"Glad you did."

"I know a few other tricks, too," she offered.

Max could tell she was hesitant. They'd always been polite, but never really friendly. It's wasn't personal. Gem had a kid, which was a full time job, and Max had a job too that ate up massive amounts of her time. It made Max worry about how this was going to work once the babies were born. Alec always tried to reassure her that TC gave them a massive supply of built in day care, but that didn't mean she would stop worrying.

Max gave Gem a smile. "I'll listen to any suggestions," she said. "I'm a mess and you're one of the only experts I know."

Gem laughed. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I've at least gone through some of what you are. I'm willing to help wherever I can."

Max nodded, and suddenly yawned. She was just so tired.

"Somebody needs a nap," Gem said with a laugh, rising from her seat. "Time for me to go."

"Thanks, Gem. Really."

Gem just nodded and headed for the door.

Joshua took the cup of tea away from Max before she dropped it. "Little Fella need sleep."

Max nodded and slumped over on the sofa. Now that she didn't feel like she was going to toss her cookies at any second, she just wanted to sleep. She closed her eyes and felt Joshua tucking the blanket in around her.

Sometime later, she heard her phone ring, but didn't have the energy to answer it. Joshua must have decided the ringing would bother her though, because he answered it after the first ring.

"Bad time," he growled. Apparently, he didn't want anyone bothering her. "Oh. Alec," he said, less growly. "Little Fella sleeping. Still sick. Smell _bad_."

Max grimaced. Poor Joshua had been there the whole time, and her apartment had to smell exactly like what it was, a confined space where someone had been barfing for days.

Joshua paused to listen. "Better maybe. Gem bring her special tea. Little Fella stop throwing up."

Again there was a lull, filled only with the occasional grunt in the negative or affirmative. She'd almost fallen asleep again when something caught her attention.

"Find papers on governor?" Joshua asked. He listened for a second and then said, "Good. Bad man deserves it."

Max smiled. Alec had stopped going on jobs so far from TC so he could be with her, but they'd found potential evidence against Harding and Alec's team had gone personally to retrieve it. He'd promised to ruin the man and he was going to follow through.

Max snuggled deeper under her blanket. Step by step, they would make the world safer for their children.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you once again for the kind reviews. Y'all are the only reason this story's still going. Mwah!_

* * *

August

Max pulled her shirt down over her ever-expanding belly and sighed. She had grown to hate maternity clothes with a fiery passion, but Alec just laughed at her and told her she was beautiful no matter how stretchy her trousers were.

Dr. Peterson and Dr. Gupta had finished with her appointment. The sickness had passed, thank goodness, but she still came in every other day like clockwork. The doctors were working very hard to keep her body chemistry and hormones to acceptable levels.

Normally, Alec came with her for her appointments, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. The bill to grant them citizenship had been killed before it ever reached the full Senate. Next year was an election year, and none of the senators up for election wanted such a divisive issue on their record. Each side was of course blaming the other and promising the topic would be brought up again, but the truth was, they didn't want to deal with the problem, so they weren't going to. The government just wanted transgenics to shut their mouths and tolerate whatever scraps they were thrown like the good little pets they were.

After the news broke, the president had personally called Command and asked for a meeting. Max had begged off for obvious reasons. Alec had hesitated, but Max had ordered him to go. Who was she to ignore the president's request just because she wanted her husband to hold her hand while the docs drew more blood? The president had sent Secretary Gordon to them back at the beginning with orders to fix the mess, which was the reason they owned Terminal City. The president had backed them before, and she hoped this was a sign he was going to back them again. Thankfully, he was in California, so at least Alec hadn't been forced to fly all the way to D.C.

Max finished getting herself all back together, and walked out into the main room of the infirmary. They were setting up an IV near her usual chair for her cocktail of whatever needed fixing today. The babies were growing and they were demanding more and more from her system. Usually it was vitamin or mineral deficiencies, but sometimes her body chemistry was weird and needed a goose.

Max sat down in the comfy recliner chair and used the lever to prop her feet up. She was such a fixture at this point that all the doctors and nurses simply nodded in greeting when she turned up. Peterson rolled the IV stand over where he already had several bags hanging above the machine that measured and pumped the drugs. Max stretched out her arm for him to put the port in place and let him get it all sorted to his satisfaction. It was all so routine now, she barely paid attention. Instead she turned to the television that Alec had installed on the wall so she'd have something to watch while she was sitting there. She had a sneaking suspicion it was more for him while he was sitting there too, but whatever.

Max let her eyes wander around the room. The infirmary was always a fairly busy place. Xs were prone to craziness and risk-taking, and they were always wandering in with various injuries from doing stupid things they shouldn't. Beyond that, people would come back from jobs with everything from cuts and bruises to gunshot wounds. In addition to Max's issues, Peterson and the others were dealing with a kid with a broken arm, an X-4 with a gash on his forehead from a construction accident and one of Dix's techies who'd sliced open his hand working on some electronics.

Max focused on the TV when she saw a newscaster break in to the game show that had been playing, along with a wide band across the bottom that read, _Breaking News_.

 _Information is still coming in, but it appears there has been an attempt on the president's life. The president has spent the last two days in San Francisco for the trade summit. Armed gunmen entered his hotel suite at the luxury Fair Haven hotel where the president was staying and attempted to harm him. The White House has refused to offer any information, other than to say the president was uninjured, although several members of the Secret Service as well as hotel security were killed._

 _Sources who were close by are saying the president has been rushed from the hotel and is currently at a secure location while the investigation takes place. Sources also say several members of the so-called transgenics, a group of genetically altered pseudo-humans created by scientists, were seen in the hotel._

The screen changed and flashed up what looked like security footage of Alec and two of Sig's team members walking through the lobby. The visit was too high profile for Alec's own team to go, whose anonymity was more important for their usual missions.

 _In light of the recent news that the bill to grant citizenship died in committee, speculation is rampant that this was retaliation. On the phone, we have one of the most respected experts on transgenics, Dr. Carolyn Perkins._

Max recognized the geneticist who'd spoken at the hearing. Max had a sneaking suspicion the woman used to work for Manticore. There was no other way she would know so much about transgenics, not to mention how much she'd talked about their fascinating makeup, and how they needed to be protected given the advance in science they represented. Max had absolutely no interest in listening to the woman talk about transgenics again. She'd had plenty of that at the hearing.

"Somebody get me a link to Command," she ordered. At this point, everyone in the infirmary was gathered around the TV. They immediately scattered to comply. "I want to know what's going on _now_." Max considered grabbing the tubing attached to her and yanking it out, but that wasn't going to fly. She and the babies needed the drugs and supplements she was being given.

As if on cue, the phone on one of the desks rang. Max got up from her chair and pulled her IV stand along with her. She snatched up the receiver. "Max," she bit out. She needed to remain calm or they were going to yell about her blood pressure again. They were always yelling about her blood pressure.

" _They're on the plane_ ," Mole growled, " _coming in hot_." They'd cleared out a runway so they could bring their own little plane in and out of TC. They still had to file flight plans, but it saved them a lot of time and effort.

"What happened?"

" _Sig says there was an attempt on the president, and their team managed to stop it. They got the president to a backup team of Secret Service guys, and then bugged out."_

"Why are they coming in hot?" What she really wanted to ask was why Sig was the one making the report and not Alec. There was usually only one reason for that to happen and it made her want to throw up.

" _Like you don't know_?" Mole demanded.

"Alec's hurt," she answered flatly. "We know how bad?"

" _Bad enough. Dix sent pages out for a trauma alert. Attack happened well over an hour ago. They just got in range of a working tower where they could call. They're trying to keep him stable 'til they can get him here_."

"The news people are already blaming us. You double the guard?"

" _This ain't my first rodeo, sister_ ," he grumbled. " _Everybody_ _knows we might have trouble coming_."

"Good. Keep me updated," she ordered.

" _Done. Hand the phone to Peterson_ ," he added. " _We're trying to patch him and the guys on the plane together. Maybe he can help if they give some details_."

Max held out the phone to Peterson. "Alec's hurt. They're bringing him back on the plane, and need to know what they can do."

Peterson nodded and accepted the phone. "Got it." He paused though and covered the mouthpiece, giving her a look. "Go sit," he ordered. "I promise I will tell you everything, but you need to sit, get your IVs finished and stay calm, ok?"

Max looked back to her chair where Dr. Gupta was already standing, waiting for her to return. She looked around and saw that others were getting a room ready for a potential trauma victim. Almost all of the medical people in TC were geneticists, OB experts or some other sort of specialist. Peterson was their only general medical doctor, but since their arrival, the others with medical training had started helping when injuries came in.

Max moved back to her chair, pulling her IV stand along with her. She sat and turned her attention back to the television while Dr. Gupta checked her pulse. It was the only thing Max could do while she waited. There was too much noise for her to overhear the other side of the phone call with Peterson, who was frowning as he spoke. He closed his eyes, and she supposed he was thinking, or trying to picture what was happening and what could be done.

The news was pulling up video from the hearing. They would get to video from the Jam Pony standoff, and eventually dig up every negative bit of video they had showing transgenics in action. It always amazed her how quickly people could turn on them. It would be fine for a while, and they would convince people they were hard working little weirdos who'd suffered more than their share and just wanted to be left alone. Then one whisper of a rumor would pop up and they were right back where they started.

Dr. Peterson set the phone down and walked straight to her. He squatted near her to be more on eye level. "You ready for this?" he asked.

"Better than worrying about what it might be," she answered.

"He was too close to a door they blew open with explosives. He was close to the blast and some of the debris landed on him as well. He has burns, and a concussion from when the blast knocked him into some furniture. He'd apparently already been shot at that point, but they've got the bleeding under control. The burns are more problematic. Your nerves are hypersensitive, and when damaged, they try to regrow almost immediately. His pain levels are so high, along with everything else, he's going into shock. I've given them some ways to help him, but he's a mess."

Max clasped her hands over her stomach. It pulled at the IV tubing a bit, but she ignored it. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She wanted to yell, to scream, to hit something, but all she could do was sit in this stupid chair and wait. She had to stay calm. Her babies needed her to stay calm, so that's what she was going to do. Their father was in trouble, and if something horrible happened, Max was all they had. She had to keep it together.

Every other transgenic who was mobile eventually left the infirmary. Some she knew would be heading to guard duty. If a mob formed to come for them, it would be all hands on deck. For the rest, they just couldn't stand to sit there idly, or tolerate the awkwardness of Max sitting there waiting on her husband's arrival.

Finally, Dr. Gupta declared the IV treatments finished. She disconnected the tubing while Max pulled the sticky patch and IV port from her arm. She stood and then hesitated, unsure what to do next. She could go to Command, but then she'd just have to come right back when the plane landed. If she left though, she wouldn't have to sit and stare at the stupid news people as they came up with every horrible thing they could think of to say about the unstable transgenics who had very likely engineered an assassination attempt on the president.

Someone had brought her a radio, so she could keep up to date more easily. "Command, come in," Max said.

" _What do you need, Princess. We're kinda busy_ ," Mole groused.

"What's it look like outside?"

" _The usual. They're starting to form up with torches and pitchforks_."

"How long on the plane?"

" _Ten minutes_ ," he answered. " _Everybody's set here. Nothing to do but wait. So,_ w _e'll_ _handle this mess. You handle your moron husband_."

Max just nodded and set the radio down. She'd been monitoring the frequency and knew all of the extra security measures they were putting in place.

Max's eyes were drawn back to the TV when they put up a new banner across the bottom. _President to address the nation_. Since Max wasn't tethered anymore, she walked to the TV and turned it up.

" _Again, if you're just joining us, there has been an assassination attempt by unknown assailants on the president at the Fair Haven hotel where he was staying in San Francisco. The president was unharmed in the attack, and was immediately taken to Travis Air Force Base. There has been no official statement made by anyone in the administration, but we have just learned the president himself is preparing to address the nation. We now go live to Travis Air Force Base_."

The screen changed to a very nondescript looking conference room. A podium had been set up along with the obligatory group of flags behind and to one side. Normally there would have been a herd of reporters shuffling and talking before a press conference, but there were no reporters in this case. There was only silence as the president stepped through a doorway and walked to the podium. He looked into the camera directly in front of him. He had a very visible laceration to his forehead that was closed with butterfly bandages to keep the skin together. He looked a little shell-shocked. His suit was smudged and his hair was slightly disheveled. It was the most down to earth and human she'd ever seen a politician look on TV.

" _My fellow Americans_ ," he began, " _I have decided to address you personally at this time for several reasons. The first is to reassure you all that I am well, and fully capable of continuing my duties to serve this great nation. The second, however, is for a far more important reason. Members of the press have been speculating wildly that transgenics were the culprits in this attempt on my life. That is an absolute falsehood. Not only were they not the cause, the transgenics present at the time of the attack are the only reason I stand before you now_.

" _After I received news that the bill to grant citizenship to the transgenics had been stopped, to our shame, from going any further, I personally called the leaders of the group and requested a meeting. During that meeting, we had a very frank discussion about the needs of their people. As the meeting was ending, known members of the CSRL, the California Self Rule League, stormed the hotel. Tragically, several members of the Secret Service, as well as brave members of hotel security lost their lives in their efforts to stop them. When I feared I would not survive, it was the transgenics who took charge of my security and got me to safety, while suffering dearly in the process. I owe them my life and I could not respect myself if I did not come before you and immediately repudiate these horrible rumors that they themselves had done this_.

" _Because of their continued bravery and dedication to this nation, I feel it is my duty to repay them for their service. Since congress has shamefully allowed the issue to lapse, I find it now my privilege to step in. By executive order, every single transgenic will be granted citizenship and have every right accorded to them by the constitution. These men and women were born here. Their nation made them, used them to fight on our behalf, and then tried to hide them, even obliterate them. They have been treated disgracefully, but no more. How many other groups have demanded restitution, money, or demanded apologies, and rightly so? These people have asked for nothing in return for their suffering except a hollowed out husk, a toxic wasteland where they can live in peace. I say we can do better than that. As your leader, I say we must do better than that. In this nation, we judge not by the color of a person's skin, or by oddities of DNA, but by the content of their character. Repeatedly, we have seen the content of their character, and I ask that you stand with me now_.

" _Thank you, my fellow Americans, and God bless_." The president nodded to the camera, and then walked back the way he'd come.

Max stood in front of the TV, completely shocked at what she had just seen. For a second, she thought she must be going nuts. There was no way the president had just done something so… so… she didn't even have the right word. Shocking. Kind. Magnificent. Brave.

The radio in her hand crackled to life. " _Plane's on the ground. They're on their way to you_."

"Copy that," she replied, shaking off her astonishment.

Outside the infirmary, she heard a shout, and realized it was cheering. She wanted to cheer along with them, and she would, but Alec came first.

The infirmary doors crashed open, and Sig and his team came rushing through, carrying Alec on a blanket between them. There was a strange keening noise, and Max's heart constricted when she realized it was coming from Alec.

Dr. Peterson pointed toward the room that had been set up. Sig and his team changed directions and hoisted Alec onto the table. Immediately, Alec let out a scream that raised the hair on her head. Alec never, ever, showed how much pain he was in if he could help it. He hid it like they all did. He joked, he laughed it off, he downplayed. The scream died away and he was reduced to a quiet sob as the excruciating pain refused to let him be.

Sig and the others quickly exited the room. A few of them were banged up as well, but they stood by and watched as Peterson and several others hurried to do what they could for Alec. Max rushed in as well, but she was careful to stay out of their way. She moved to stand at his head, looking down at him. His eyes were wide with agony, begging her to do something.

"Alec, we're going to help, I promise," she assured him. A mere glance told her that he was badly burned on one side of his body. They said he'd been shot, but he was such a mess she couldn't tell where. The doctors began to cut away his clothes, and started an IV in the arm of his uninjured side. They handed her an oxygen mask and she placed it over his nose and mouth. They'd been prepared for the burns, so they immediately went to work, but they started with pain medication strong enough to take down a rhino. It took a few seconds, but she could tell when it started to kick in. Alec began to calm, and he looked like he could think more clearly.

"Max?"

She looked up at Dr. Peterson. "What?"

"We're going to need you to leave the infirmary."

"What?" she said again. "Why?"

"Because given the extent of the burns, what we need to do is going to be excruciatingly painful. You will not react well. You need to be somewhere else. Do you understand?"

"I can't leave him!" she shouted.

"That reaction right there is why you have to leave." Dr. Peterson got in her face. "You are holding us up, and we don't have time. Go sit with Joshua. Stay calm, and protect your babies. We will help him. I promise you I will call the second you can come back, ok?"

One of the doctors touched Alec's leg and he let out a bloodcurdling scream. Max's immediate reaction was to deck the doctor, but she stopped herself in time. Barely.

Max looked back down at Alec. "I love you," she whispered, and placed a kiss against his sooty, tear-stained cheek. Then she did one of the hardest things she'd ever done. She left.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Mole growled. Command was crowded as everyone who worked there, usually on different shifts, had shown up to help. They were manning computers, radios, phones, and security cameras.

"They kicked me out of the infirmary," Max answered, deadpan. "To help him, they're going to have to hurt him and they're afraid I'll kill one of the doctors."

Mole chomped on his cigar, and finally said, "Fair enough."

"We have a mob forming?"

They all looked up at the screens showing the main areas of TC, the main gates, but mostly along the exterior perimeter in case of any brain child who decided to scale the fence. There were crowds milling around outside the main gates. A few people had the usual signs, but there was a distinct lack of waving them. Apparently, the president's speech had taken the wind out of their sails as he'd intended.

As they watched, the sector police actually showed up. They were in two large personnel carriers. The cops emptied out of the vehicles and started shooing people away from the gates to Terminal City. Since the crowd was already starting to break up, the arrival of the police seemed to hasten their departure.

"Max?"

She turned to see Luke holding out a phone to her. It was one of the main lines into Command.

"It's the president," he said. "You want me to tell him to call back?" he added, completely serious.

Max just held out her hand and took the receiver. "Mr. President?"

" _Hello, Max. Is it all right if I call you Max_?"

She nodded, although he couldn't see it, of course. It seemed surreal to be speaking to him after just seeing him address the whole country on TV. "Yes, sir. We saw the speech you made. I don't know what to say other than thank you."

" _Actually, I called to thank you. I saw what happened to your husband. The bullet he took was meant for me. Even after that, he stayed to barricade that door to give us time to get away. I owe him my life and I saw how badly he was suffering because of it_."

"Yes, sir," she said, her throat beginning to close with tears. "They're trying to help him now."

She wanted to be with Alec. She _needed_ to be with him. He was supposed to be happy and healthy and talking to their babies like they could hear everything he was saying. He was supposed to hold her when she was feeling sick, or when she woke up from a nightmare. He wasn't supposed to be alone and screaming in the infirmary.

" _I just wanted you to know that I fully planned on that executive order even before this happened. You and your people deserve to be recognized and I'm sorry it's taken this long_."

"Thank you," she said again.

" _In a few days, I will send a team who will provide you all with birth certificates and social security numbers. With those, you can apply for every bit of ID necessary to function normally. Secretary Gordon also says that his office will be happy to continue issuing permits necessary for your work travel_."

"I don't know what to say, sir." She really didn't. Thank you seemed so inadequate. She'd spent her whole life thinking of the government as this big bad group of evil people trying to hunt her and kill her, or drag her back to prison. Yet, here this man was, this leader, giving them their future, free and clear.

" _Just let me know if there's anything else I can do. If your husband needs anything, anything at all, it will be arranged_."

"Yes, sir, I will," she said, and for the first time, she felt like she really had a Commander in Chief worthy of the title.

The president ended the call, and Max handed the phone back to Luke, feeling a bit stunned. Someone took her arm and guided her to the little side room they had where there were chairs, a TV and a sofa they used for breaks, or cat naps taken during disasters.

"Sit," Mole ordered, and she did. He grabbed a blanket and flapped it open before settling it over her. "We've got this handled. You stay here, and I'll get you the second they say you can go back."

Max felt a tear slide down her cheek and nodded. "Ok."

"And knock that off. Alec's the most stubborn guy I ever met. He's gonna be fine and he'll skin me alive if he finds out we didn't take care of you."

She offered him a watery smile. "Yeah, he will."

Max curled up on the sofa and closed her eyes to block out the images on the TV. She tried not to imagine what Alec was suffering through. She tried not to hear his screams, but they rang in her ears. One of the babies gave her a swift kick and Max rubbed her hands over her belly, soothing them, and soothing herself, too. It helped to know they were in this with her.

* * *

Max sat up straighter when she realized Alec was awake. They'd been keeping him sedated for the past two days. It took enough anesthesia that it would have killed a normal person, but it was necessary to keep him down and because of how much pain he was in. They'd starting back off on it, though.

They'd moved her recliner into his room so she could stay with him, but given her firm rules. She would rest, and she would under no circumstances get too upset or she would be escorted out. So far, Max had complied. They promised her Alec was doing better, so she was taking their word for it.

Alec let out a groan. Max stood up. She wasn't her nimble self anymore, so it was more of an awkward lumber, but she hurried to him and grasped his hand on his uninjured side.

"Alec? Can you hear me?"

The monitors beside him that were beating with his heart were racing compared to when she'd nodded off. She realized he was shaking, and leaned closer.

"Alec?"

He clamped his eyes shut and grit his teeth. "Please," he begged. "Hurts. _Please_."

"I need help!" she shouted. "Somebody get in here!"

Dr. Peterson ran into the room looking frazzled and exhausted. Max knew he'd been awake probably longer than she had. "What is it?"

"He's awake," she said. "He's hurting." Max looked back down at him and she could see that it was taking everything he had not to scream like he had before. "I thought you said he would be better!"

Peterson left the room without a word. Max leaned down and kissed Alec's cheek. "We'll fix it," she whispered. "I know it hurts, but we'll fix it. Just hold on, ok?"

Tears of agony trailed down the sides of his face. "Next time… the president… wants to meet," he bit out, "we say _no_."

"You might change your mind when you hear what he did," she answered. She needed to distract him. She didn't know how long he'd been awake with nothing to think about but the pain he was in.

"Yeah?"

"Executive order. He made us all citizens. No bargaining with congress, nothing. It's a done deal. You wouldn't believe all the crap on the news saying he's overstepped his bounds and all that, but it doesn't matter. He told everybody you saved him. It was a great speech and you missed it."

"Sorry," he said. The shaking was getting worse, and he was starting to make little pained whining noises, as if the pain was getting the better of his power to control his reaction. "Wish… I'd seen it."

"I'll play it for you when you're better."

"Max," he whispered. "Please. I can't…" He was twisting on the bed, which she knew had to be making it worse. He was bandaged up, but moving the damaged skin was a terrible idea. He rolled toward her onto his uninjured side. He grasped the front of her shirt with his injured hand, but held on, pulling her close, begging her for some sort of relief. Max whispered every bit of nonsense she knew, every soothing phrase, every promise of comfort, none of which made a single bit of difference.

Finally, Dr. Peterson ran back in carrying several syringes. He pushed them into the port on the IV lines attached to Alec to add to the cocktail he was already getting. A long minute later, Alec began to relax. He sighed against her where his face was pressed to her chest.

"Thank you," he muttered, as Max and Dr. Peterson rolled him back flat onto the bed.

"I'm sorry," Peterson said, looking stricken. "We thought you'd be through the worst of it. We were wrong."

"S'ok," Alec mumbled. "M'a slow… learner. Max'll… tell you."

Max rolled her eyes. She brushed her fingers through his hair, waiting until he closed his eyes again and was out.

"We'll keep him sedated for another day or two," Peterson said, as if to himself. "The nerves are re-growing in the damaged flesh and your nerves were made to be hypersensitive. It's making it so much worse."

"You sure that'll be long enough?" she asked. She knew she sounded strident, but there was absolutely no way she was putting Alec through that again.

Peterson ran a hand over his face. "I hope so." He was completely exhausted, and Max tried to calm herself. They were all doing the best they could. They asked a lot of their veterinarian and this wasn't exactly his area of expertise. It wasn't anyone's area of expertise, really, now that Manticore was gone.

Max blew out a slow breath. "Thanks, Doc. We should both get some rest while he's out."

"Yeah," Peterson said absently. "Yeah." He nodded and left, calling for one of the others to take over while he got some sleep.

Max combed her fingers through Alec's hair one last time, then walked back to her recliner chair. She sat and propped her feet up to wait.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	9. Chapter 9

September

Max was getting married today.

Well, technically, she was getting a marriage license today. There was a three day waiting period after they got the license before they could use it. Also, she was already married. Joshua had walked her down the aisle and everything.

So, really, this was a test.

True to his word, and actually beyond it, the president had sent a team of officials to help them. Every single transgenic and transhuman had been issued a birth certificate. With the exception of the newest babies whose parents were known, in the spaces for the names of the mother and father, each certificate said, "U.S. Government." They'd all been issued social security cards. After that, another crew had arrived to issue them all passports as a form of government ID, since that was what the feds could issue. Not to be outdone, the new interim governor since Governor Harding's resignation had sent a team to assist them with state issued ID and driver's licenses, waiving some of the usual requirements.

All of that had been done by specially chosen volunteers willing to come to TC. This would be the first time a transgenic had to go out and apply to the local government for something using their newly issued papers.

Alec held open the door to the Auditor's Office. He walked in behind her and set a hand at her waist. He was back to his old self after weeks of abject misery. He'd pushed himself too hard, but whenever Max said anything, he'd just smiled and said he had to be ready in case the babies needed him. Max couldn't exactly argue with that.

It had taken some convincing, however, to get him to agree to this little trip. Neither of them really cared if their marriage was legal by the government's standards. They were married, whether they had paperwork or not. It was the principle of it, though. They'd gone through all of this trouble to be recognized by the government, and now they were going to make sure the government stood by its word.

Even so, Alec hadn't been convinced. Thankfully, marriage licenses were issued by the county government instead of city hall. Alec had flat out refused until he learned that. He'd said under no circumstances would he take Max to city hall in her condition. The riot had scarred him as much as her. The change of venue had at least helped her convince him to think about it.

Alec took a number from the little machine by the door and guided her to a pair of seats where they had a clear field of view of the door, the clerks at the counter, and the handful of people waiting in the battered chairs. Alec showed her the number, and Max just nodded. They were only a few numbers out from the one showing on the little electric sign. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long.

Alec tensed every time the door opened for someone to come in, sometimes couples, other times a single person who needed paperwork other than a marriage license. The guards had been forced to wait outside the security checkpoint downstairs since they didn't have any business to conduct in the courthouse. Alec was also unarmed which just added to the tension.

Max took his hand and intertwined their fingers. Strictly speaking, he wouldn't want his hand encumbered if it came to a fight, but Max didn't care. She was getting a marriage license today, and she wanted to hold her husband's hand. Sue her.

"Did you find a rocking chair?" Max asked. "Gem says we should have one."

He nodded. "I found a decent one in a secondhand shop. Slick's going to refinish it for us."

She nodded, and kept mentally running through her nursery checklist. They still had a few things to find, but they were working their way through it. At the moment, everything was piled into the extra room they were going to turn into the nursery. They'd have to get it all sorted eventually, but the babies were still months away, so they had time.

"Maybe we should get more diapers."

Alec just laughed. "Max, we have enough for an army of babies. They're cloth diapers. We wash, we re-use."

Max worried her lip between her teeth. There was no such thing as disposable diapers anymore. After the Pulse, things like that were just impossible to get. Everyone had gone back to the old-fashioned reusable cloth diapers. They were more economical, and easily made if you couldn't buy some already done. Diapers, bottles, blankets…

"We have the list," he assured her for the umpteenth time. "If we think of something else, we'll get it. Just… relax, ok?"

She nodded. She didn't say it, but she wasn't going to relax until the babies were born. She was obsessively reading books, and talking to Gem about what to expect. It didn't help that she kept having nightmares about everything that could go wrong. Night after night, she had dreams about dropping one of the babies, or about something going wrong with the birth. The one recurring dream was of a child crying and she couldn't find the baby, no matter how hard she looked.

"You think any more about names?" he asked.

"I'm not naming my son Incitatus."

Alec's pursed his lips, trying not to smile. They'd spent the evening before tossing out names and letting the other shoot them down. The names had ranged from plebeian, overused names to the completely ridiculous. By the end, Max had been laughing so hard she was crying, and Alec was sitting back, pleased that he'd given her something to think about other than the what-ifs.

"I'm not naming him Bucephalus either. I don't know what it is with you wanting to name your kid after a horse."

"One," he said, all mock seriousness. "They aren't just horses. They are _famous_ horses. Two, they were very special. Incitatus would have been a Consul if Caligula hadn't been assassinated, and Bucephalus was Alexander the Great's horse. That horse was-"

"A _horse_ ," she said.

"A really cool horse," he muttered under his breath.

Max rolled her eyes. "Still no."

"Then you have to come up with something."

"Fine. I will." She nodded for emphasis.

Alec gave up trying to keep his face straight and broke into a wide grin. She knew he would be happy no matter what the children were named. He'd had fun, though, coming up with possibilities. Even more, he loved taking her mind off her worries.

A couple came through the door, and Alec watched them like a hawk until they took a number and started looking around for a seat. Finally, the two sat down opposite them in the waiting area. The man was in his late twenties, tall, and thin faced. He hadn't exactly dressed up for the occasion, in jeans and an old flannel shirt, and he looked massively unhappy to be there. The young, dark-haired woman with him, however, looked smug, like she'd finally got her way. Max wondered how long their marriage would last. Granted, if she'd told her younger self she was going to be married to Alec and would be having twins, she'd have probably died laughing.

The man glanced at both of them and a smirk crossed his lips. "Dude," the guy said, "waiting kinda late, aren't ya?"

Alec raised his eyebrows. "What was that?"

The guy glanced at Max and pointed to her stomach. "She looks ready to pop. Leavin' it kinda late, man."

Alec grinned, and if the man had had any sense he would've run from the room. He didn't, though.

"My girlfriend tells me she's knocked up, I'm gonna make an honest woman of her. Not gonna have any kid of mine born a bastard."

"Thanks for the advice," Alec said, pleasant expression still in place.

There was a reporter in the room. He was wearing a hat pulled low, but Max recognized him and his creepy mustache anyway. She had no doubt Alec had too. She was also pretty sure the blonde lady with him had a video camera hidden in her purse aimed right at them. This little trip to the courthouse would be on the news shortly. More importantly, the presence of the reporters meant that unfortunately, Alec couldn't punch the guy, although that would certainly make the news more exciting.

There was already a news crew outside waiting for their exit and there would no doubt be more once word got out. Max was really hoping to be done before that happened. She could kick herself though for not thinking of having two guards pose as a couple wanting a license. They could've had backup.

"Number 42," the overworked clerk called.

Alec stood and helped her up. He headed for the counter, but paused when Max stopped in front of the woman. "Can I give you some advice?" Max asked.

"I guess," the woman answered uncertainly.

Max glanced at her jerk fiancé and then back again. "Sometimes, it's better to have one bastard than two."

It took a second for it to sink in, but the lady finally got it. Her mouth dropped open in shock.

"What did you just say?" Her fiancé started to stand, but Alec stepped back and put a hand on his shoulder. It didn't look like he was exerting much pressure, but the man was planted back in his seat.

"Good luck, you two," Alec said, then quickly guided Max away toward the counter. "Maxie, can you not take a poke at the local wildlife? We're kinda being watched here."

She shrugged. "He deserved it. She'll figure it out too, but it'll be too late."

Alec just nodded in agreement. They walked up to the counter, and he smiled his most winning smile. "Good morning. We're here for a marriage license."

"Are both parties present?" the bored woman asked. She had a pen tucked behind her ear into her short mousy brown hair. She had a pinched face, which was probably par for anyone working a bureaucratic job, and she already looked exhausted even though it wasn't even noon. She finally looked up and her eyes widened in alarm.

"Hello," Alec said politely. "Can you help us?"

"I… umm…" She looked around, headed toward panic.

"We're not here to cause trouble," Max said quickly. "We have all the papers you'll need. We just want the license and we'll go. Ok?"

"But… the mayor…"

"I thought this was a _county_ office," Alec said, an overly dramatic confused expression on his face. "The mayor is a city official."

"Yes, but…"

"But?" Max pressed.

"The county commissioners… and the mayor…" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "They had a meeting. We have instructions to turn you away. Any city or county office."

Max sighed. Apparently, they'd missed that little gathering of idiot politicians. "So no marriage license today." She looked up at Alec, and she didn't even have to fake how sad she was. She'd really, really wanted this to work. She'd wanted all of them to be able to apply for papers legally.

"I'm sorry, Maxie." He put his arm around her and she leaned into his side.

Suddenly, a man shoved a microphone in the woman's face, and Max recognized the reporter who'd been watching them. His partner had taken the small video camera out of her purse and was aiming it at them. "Do I understand correctly, that you are refusing to issue a marriage license to these two people?"

"I… um…"

"Max? Alec? Is that correct?"

"Yes," Alec said. "We have all the appropriate papers, but the commissioners and the mayor have apparently given instructions that transgenics are to be turned away from any city or county office."

The reporter moved the microphone back to the clerk. "Is that accurate? Are the commissioners refusing a license to two American citizens with all of the right paperwork needed?"

"I… umm… Let me get my supervisor." The clerk scuttled away, frantically knocking on an office door behind her. She didn't wait, but went in and closed the door behind her.

By now, everyone was staring at them. The jerk who'd talked to them earlier was pale as a ghost as he realized he'd been offering unwanted advice to two trained killers, famous ones at that. Max tried not to smirk.

Some of the people in the office looked like they were going to run, others, like they were watching a train wreck and couldn't look away. A few looked outraged on their behalf.

"Has this happened before?" the reporter asked.

Max shook her head. "This is the first time any of us have attempted to come to city hall or the courthouse for anything. We were hoping that now that we have all the correct paperwork we wouldn't be turned away."

Alec shrugged. "We can keep going like we have, but now that the federal government has recognized us, we were hoping…" He looked heartbroken. "I just wanted to marry the girl of my dreams," he said, adding a sad smile. "Guess we'll just wait a little longer."

Max hugged him, making sure it was all very visible for the camera. She hated hamming it up like this, but she'd learned it was necessary. If she got angry and started yelling, it would turn public opinion against them. More importantly, it would raise her blood pressure. She'd become an expert at staying calm and collected. After the babies were born, maybe she'd come back and scream at them all or hit someone. That thought cheered her right up.

Finally, the office door opened, and a middle aged battleaxe of a woman walked straight up to the counter. She wasn't anything close to good-looking. She was frowsy, frumpy, and had thick glasses so heavy they were sliding down on her nose.

"Who are you?" the reporter asked.

"My name is Karen Baker, the County Auditor." She pushed the glasses back up. "I was elected by the people of this county and I take my job very seriously."

Max didn't doubt that. She looked like she took everything seriously.

"We're here for a marriage license," Alec said. "Can you help us?"

Ms. Baker nodded. "I will personally take care of it," she said firmly.

The reporter said, "We understand the commissioners are against-"

"The commissioners have given a directive," she replied directly into the camera, "which I believe is contrary to my duties as auditor." She looked back at Max and Alec. "The commissioners can try to fire one of my clerks, but I'm an elected official and they can't fire me." She smiled kindly, and it changed her entire face. "Can I have your paperwork, please?"

Max handed over the folder of paperwork, along with their freshly minted bits of needed ID. "Thank you," she said, and meant it.

"Next year's an election year," Ms. Baker said. She looked into the camera once again. "I hope the people of this city, and this county will remember what happened here today. Please remember who was trying to help people who live here, and who was trying to be obstructive for no reason other than a bit of DNA." She looked back to Max and Alec. "Give me a few minutes," she said, "and I'll have this ready for you. And you," she turned back to the reporters, once again the hardened battleaxe of a public servant, "are not supposed to be in this office unless you have official business to attend to. There's the door." She pointed for emphasis. "Out before I call security."

The reporters both hustled for the door. They had their video and their story, so they were happy to run for it.

"My son has a pig farm," Ms. Baker said.

"Oh?" Max had no idea where the woman was going with that.

"He sells to Terminal City on a regular basis. He says you're good people. You never try to cheat him, and you helped him when he was being bothered by some thugs."

"Martin," Alec said, and nodded. "He's a good guy. He never tries to cheat us either, and we appreciate it."

"My son would never dream of it." She smiled again. "I raised him to know right and wrong, no matter how hard times get." Ms. Baker turned away, but not before she gave Max and Alec a conspiratorial wink.

Alec looked down at her. "So, what do you say, Maxie? Feel like marrying me again?"

"Do I get a honeymoon this time?" She raised an accusing eyebrow.

He frowned in thought. "Might have to wait a few months and make it a family vacation," he answered.

Max leaned into him, and rested her head against his shoulder. She sighed dramatically. "I guess I'll marry you then. Again."

He hugged her close and whispered, "Max, I'll marry you every single year if it means you'll stay with me. I'm no good without you."

"You can say that again," she said, trying for lightness.

"I'm no good without you, Maxie," he repeated, just as seriously.

"Then let's get this license and get out of here," she replied. "I want to kiss the groom, and I hate having an audience."

"Best news I've heard all day."

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	10. Chapter 10

October

"Max?"

Max sighed and snuggled under the covers. She was too tired. There was no way she'd had enough sleep.

"Max?"

"What?" she muttered. "Too early."

She heard Alec chuckle. "It's past noon, Sleeping Beauty. You planning on getting up today?"

Max forced her eyes open. They felt gritty like she hadn't slept in years and she was still exhausted. She pushed herself up in the bed and rubbed her eyes. She scratched at her belly, then her bladder let her know she'd waited too long. It felt like the twins had plunked themselves right on top of it.

Max struggled to the side of the bed, and Alec was there to help her stand. She was getting huge which was to be expected since she was carrying two instead of one. They were aiming for February as a due date now, but that didn't help when she already felt like she was the size of a barn.

"I'll fix you something to eat," Alec called as she shuffled to the bathroom.

She wasn't really hungry. Mostly, she was just tired. It didn't matter though. Alec would fuss at her until she ate.

Max used the bathroom and then stood at the sink. She looked in the mirror and sighed. Her eyes were sunken and instead of the weight most women gained, Max's face was gaunt. Her hair was thinning and dull. The twins were demanding more and more from her body. She was spending even more time than she had in the infirmary while they tried to keep her and the babies on an even keel.

"Max?" There was a knock at the door. "You ok in there?"

"Yeah." Max quickly washed her hands, and opened the door. Alec was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, waiting for her. He was looking as handsome as ever, in his normal jeans and t-shirt, and it didn't help her mood.

"Come on," he said, and nodded toward the kitchen. He had a plate waiting for her with a variety of food: a breakfast sandwich she could pull apart if she wanted, some pasta, some fruit, some leftover chicken casserole that she'd decided to make in the middle of the night, etc. Her tastes had been all over the place, and Alec had quickly learned to offer her lots of different types of food and let her pick and choose. Any weird requests were treated like emergency missions. Alec's team was scrambled and they went out ASAP to retrieve whatever was needed.

Alec sat with her at their scarred kitchen table. He set out the pills Dr. Gupta had sent up for the day beside a glass of water. Most were the same vitamins she took every day, but there were always a few changes depending on her blood work.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. It was nonchalant, but she knew he was worried.

"Fat. Tired." Baby Two kicked her in retaliation for her foul mood. She jumped and placed her hand over the spot. She grabbed Alec's hand and set it there. They never seemed to tire of feeling the babies move. After losing Baby Three, they wouldn't dare take the tiny moment of their remaining babies' lives for granted.

Alec knelt beside her and smiled, delighted, when Baby Two kicked her again. "Definitely your kid, Maxie. She likes kicking everybody."

Baby One was a boy. Baby Two was a girl. Josh had invited them for a celebratory dinner of mac and cheese with little sausages, made especially for the occasion, when they'd found out.

Knowing they had a little girl and a little boy had made it even more real. It was still wonderful and unbelievable, but more real. In a few months they were going to have a girl and boy, two very real, tiny little people depending on them.

There was a knock at the door and Alec stood. "I'll get it. You eat."

Max grabbed the casserole and took a bite. It definitely wasn't doing it for her anymore and she set it back down. The pasta looked pretty good so she went with that. She pulled the sausage out of the breakfast sandwich, tore it up to add to the pasta, and took a bite. It wasn't too bad, so she stuck with that.

"Boo, you a hot mess."

Max turned around, spaghetti hanging half-in, half-out of her mouth to see O.C. taking off her jacket and heading toward her.

Max gulped down the bite of pasta, and set the dish down. She felt herself starting to tear up for absolutely no reason whatsoever. She held out her arms, and after a moment of shock, O.C. came toward her and gave her a hug.

"I miss you," Max said.

"Yeah, well, I got a call you could use some girl time, and I'm always gonna be there for my girl."

"Someone called you?"

"Yeah. The no-good man who knocked you up."

That just made her want to cry again. Alec had called in reinforcements to try to cheer her up. She was just so tired. She felt worn thin, which was weird since she was so huge.

"You guys gonna be ok?" Alec asked. "I thought I'd leave you guys to talk or do each others' nails or… whatever you two do."

Cindy shot him a look, but also nodded. "I got this, pretty boy. Go away."

Alec smirked and gave her a little salute before heading for the door. "Call me if you need me," he said over his shoulder. It was flippant, but Max also knew it was an order.

"Ok, Boo, why don't you finish eating while O.C. tells you all about what's going on at Jam Pony."

Max grinned and picked up her pasta. It was a little cold, but she didn't care.

"You 'member that snooty girl named Kiki?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. She called me low-class. All I did was flip her off."

"Well, Miss Snooty-Tooty Kiki got her a little thing goin' on with Trucker John."

"No way!" Max said. Trucker John was a guy who'd been a long distance truck driver 'til he lost his license for drunk driving. "He hasn't taken a bath in… ever!"

"You don't have to tell me that. I'm the one who complained 'til Normal moved that nasty boy's locker to the other side."

Cindy continued to catch her up on all the gossip. Normal was still yelling. Sketchy was still getting himself in trouble. Packages were still getting lost or broken. Tips were still awful. It was almost… comforting to know that some things didn't change.

As soon as the last bite of food was in her mouth, O.C. stood up, as if she'd timed her gossip session to the second. "Come on, Boo. Let's get you cleaned up."

"But…"

"Ah ah. Don't argue with me. I am here to treat you like a queen and I'm gonna do it right. You need a day off from being boss of this dump, and from having doctors poking at you. Gonna be a day like the old days where we just chill."

Max smiled. It sounded wonderful.

"You find you some clean clothes, while O.C. gets a bath ready."

Max looked down at herself. She was wearing a particularly ratty nightgown that was almost all she had left that fit. Alec had brought her some new clothes a few days earlier, but she hadn't had the energy to go through them yet. She knew she had a few shirts that still fit, though. "On it."

By the time she came back, the bathroom was already beginning to steam up. O.C. helped her out of the nightgown and into the tub. It was anything but graceful, and Max just frowned at herself in disapproval.

"None o' that now. Boo, I ain't ever wanted kids, but looking at you…" She smiled, and it was an honest, kind smile, rare for her and all the more precious. "You beautiful, Boo. Always have been, but like this… It's just a beautiful thing."

"Thanks, Cin," Max said, and meant it. She could always count on O.C. to make her feel better, and to tell her the honest truth.

"Now let's get you cleaned up! You grubby enough, even I can tell you need a bath."

"You try getting' in and outta the tub when you feel like a beached whale."

"Whateva', Suga'. We gonna take care of it."

While Max washed with soap, Cindy worked a peppermint smelling shampoo through her hair. It was almost like a massage, and it made Max want to lean back and fall asleep. O.C. used a cup and poured it over her head to rinse it out and then used a conditioner and repeated the process.

"Scrub 'til you squeaky," Cindy ordered. All the while she separated Max's hair into two clumps and then separated it again to braid it for her, tying them off with a couple of bands.

Once she was clean, Max had to lever herself up from the bottom of the tub. She caught O.C. smirking, and had to laugh. "I know. Impressive. I'm a nimble, deadly weapon, right?"

She shook her head, still laughing. "You somethin' all right."

Cindy helped her get dressed, and she had to admit, she did feel better now that she was clean and in a fresh set of clothes.

"Come on." O.C. nodded toward the living room. "Phase two."

"What's phase two?"

"Phase two is where we get all girlied up and talk about what's goin' on with you. O.C. wants to hear everything. Every last little bit."

Max had called O.C. after Baby Three died. She'd called and O.C. had come running and they'd sat and cried together. Since then though, they'd called and all, but they both had lives, and just couldn't talk as easily as when they were both working and living together.

They did their nails, and O.C. did Max's toenails, laughing when Max could only see them when she held her foot way out. They did some kind of weird face mask thing. They went through all of her old clothes, and the new ones Alec had brought. He had included a couple of replacement nightgowns that were embroidered, and beautiful, and had to have cost a fortune, but she knew he'd done it to make her feel better.

While Max sat on the bed, O.C. held up each piece one by one and they gave it a yea or nay. They bagged up the maternity clothes that were too small now to pass on to someone else in TC who might need them. They trashed the ratty nightgown she'd been wearing, and some other things that O.C. declared "no self-respecting pregnant woman" should wear. O.C. folded everything that had passed muster and put it away in the dresser, then dragged the reject bags to the front door for Alec to take care of later.

The whole time, they talked. They talked and talked and laughed, and it was like the old days, and yet it wasn't, and it was wonderful. She would have to give Alec a kiss for calling in backup.

After a couple of hours though, Max could barely keep her eyes open.

"Come on, Mama. Let's get you to bed. Looks like you need a nap."

"Yeah. Tired all the time," she muttered. "S'annoying. Got things to do."

"Well, not today."

O.C. helped her into one of the beautiful new nightgowns. The silky fabric slid over her and she sighed in contentment.

"I'll say one thing for yo' boy. He got decent taste. And he good to you."

"He knows you'd kill him if he weren't."

"Ain't that the truth."

Max stretched out on the bed. At some point while she wasn't looking, O.C. had changed the sheets too. "You're a good friend."

"No lie there. But just returnin' the favor, Boo. You been a good friend to me."

Max smiled, and O.C. pulled the covers up over her. "Sleep tight, Mama."

Max heard the front door open and O.C. walked back into the living room. "How is she?" she heard Alec say.

"Sleepin'. We had a good time though. Maybe cheered her up."

"Good. Thanks for coming, Cin."

"You call me earlier next time, you hear me? You don't let my boo get in such a state."

Alec must have nodded, because she didn't hear a response.

"How you doin'?" Cindy asked more kindly.

"I'm all right. Max is the one you should be worried about."

"Oh, I'm plenty worried. She look like death on toast. Don't mean you ain't runnin' yoself ragged, too."

And he was. Since Max wasn't up to working as much, Alec was doing the work for both of them, all the while running back and forth with her to appointments and treatments and getting everything the doctors asked for, as well as anything that he even remotely thought would help or would make her smile.

"I don't matter right now," he said stubbornly. "The twins are…" Alec cleared his throat. "Transgenic children are always hard on the mother. Back in the day, a lot of the surrogates died. They just couldn't handle the demands of the fetus. Max is a transgenic, so she's stronger, but she's carrying twins. They're… Max's hanging on, but…"

"Docs doin' everything they can?" O.C. asked.

"Yeah."

"You and Max doin' everything you can?"

"Of course," he said, clearly affronted.

"Then don't beat yourself up, honey," she said quietly. "Just take it one day at a time."

Alec let out a slow breath. "Yeah, I know." Max could practically see him running a hand through his hair like he did when he was tired, or frustrated.

"Something goes wrong, we'll deal, ok?"

"Yeah, ok," he sighed.

"Now why don't you get in there and snuggle up with yo' girl."

"It's not even dark yet."

"Do I look like I care?" she shot back. "Yo' girl is sleeping and she need some TLC. You look like you ain't slept in days either. Get in there and take a cat nap, or whatever you want to call it."

Max rolled her eyes, and guessed Alec was doing the same. "Fine, fine," he said.

"I'm out. Call me if you need me. Sooner than later," she ordered. "I mean it."

Max heard the front door close behind O.C. A moment later, Alec came into the bedroom. He toed off his shoes and climbed into the bed behind her. It wasn't as easy for him to wrap his arm around her anymore. He slid his hand so it was resting against her belly, and sighed in contentment.

Max closed her eyes.

"Night, babies," she heard him whisper. "Let your mom have a night off, ok? She needs it."

 _Daddy, too_ , Max mentally added.

Barely a few seconds later, Alec's breathing evened out in sleep. Max nestled more comfortably against him, and let sleep take her.

* * *

 _More tomorrow…_


	11. Chapter 11

November

"What is happening?" Alec demanded.

"We don't know," Dr. Peterson snapped. "Stop yelling and let us figure it out!"

Alec clamped his mouth shut. He stood back and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't know what else to do other than stay out of the way.

Peterson rubbed his knuckles against Max's sternum. "Max? Can you hear me?"

Max shifted just slightly, but it looked more like an involuntary response to the pain than a real answer.

"Max?"

There was still no response, and Alec felt his last bit of hope die that this was something easily fixable.

Max had been sleeping more and more as the twins took an increasingly heavy toll on her body. This morning, however, she hadn't woken up. Alec had tried to wake her to eat some breakfast, and she hadn't responded at all. He'd immediately gathered her in his arms and blurred straight to the infirmary.

Alec stood against the wall, watching as Peterson, Gupta, and a few others moved around Max setting up equipment, drawing blood, etc. They moved at a steady pace, and Alec wanted to yell at them to hustle, but he decided to take it as a good sign that no one looked frantic or rushed.

"The babies are fine," Dr. Gupta told him, looking at one of her screens. "We've got a fetal heart monitor on them and there are no signs of distress."

Alec let out a slow breath and nodded. He'd been terrified that they'd lost another of the babies or both of them, or… he didn't know what. He could kick himself for not noticing something sooner. He'd woken up early and gone to get a bit of work done before he woke Max. He'd thought she was just sleeping. Even now, she just looked like she was asleep. There were no signs of pain or agitation. She still looked ill, but that was how she'd looked for weeks now.

"What about Max? Is something… wrong? I mean clearly something's wrong, but…"

"Nothing obvious," Peterson said, "but we'll wait for the labs."

Alec stood there, keeping watch. It was what he and Max did. When one of them was down, the other took watch. He stood there, grim-faced, while the doctors came in and out. Eventually, after another battery of tests, Max was moved from the emergency area to one of the rooms they'd added for patients who were going to have to stay there longer than a patch up job. It ended up being the same room where Alec had been after he was burned. He had horrible memories of the room, and didn't really think this was going to make it any better.

For hours and hours, he watched as more doctors came in and out. He lost count of the quiet meetings outside the room, poring over the results of the tests. They assured him that although her heart rate and brain activity had lowered, she was fine. Her breathing was fine. The labs looked fine. The babies were fine.

"Then why won't she wake up?" Alec demanded.

Dr. Gupta and Dr. Peterson stood on one side of Max's hospital bed. He stood on the other, and held her hand. It made him feel both better and worse. He felt better with her hand in his, but worse because her hand was cold and there was no response, no answering grip from her. He placed his other hand on her stomach protectively.

"We think we have an idea," Peterson said.

"What?"

"Dr. Lambert? Will you join us please?" he called.

A man Alec hadn't really dealt with before came into the room. He was younger, like many of the experts who'd come to Terminal City, all hoping to make a name for themselves while working with the infamous transgenics. He had dark brown hair, that was too long and hung down in his eyes, but Alec had a feeling that was how he preferred it from the way he moved. It was like he was trying to hide from people around him. It made Alec wonder how he'd ever got up the nerve to apply for the job in the first place, let alone accept it. He doubted the guy had ever really interacted with any of them, and guessed it had all been lab work.

"This is Dr. Lambert. He's come up with a theory that we think has some merit."

"Good to meet you," Alec said automatically. "What's the theory?"

"Hibernation," Lambert said nervously. He glanced at Alec, then averted his eyes and stared at the ceiling.

"I beg your pardon?"

Dr. Peterson explained. "Max's system is severely strained. We think that her body has gone into a form of hibernation to conserve energy."

"Crazy, but… ok? So what do we do?" Alec asked. "How do we wake her up?"

"Not a good idea," Lambert said. He glanced furtively at Alec and then away again. It was making Alec twitchy.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Just tell me what's going on," he said.

"Sorry. I was warned not to make eye contact. Predator instinct."

Peterson sighed. "Sorry," he said to Alec. "He's new."

"Can someone please tell me why we're not going to wake Max up," Alec snapped. He knew he sounded belligerent, but he was nearing the end of his patience. "Because it sounds like my wife is in a coma and you're telling me it's for her own good."

Peterson's shoulders drooped. "In a nutshell."

"Her body is protecting her," Gupta said, her tone very calm and even. "Dr. Lambert has some experience with hibernating animals. This isn't the same, but we think it may be similar. Max has DNA from several animals that hibernate, and we don't know if this has activated some sort of latent instinctive reaction in her. Bears, for example, can give birth while they're hibernating."

"She's not a bear," Alec said through gritted teeth.

"Her body may not know that," Lambert offered. "We've noted how much she's been sleeping, far beyond what an exhausted person should. Her movements have been slower, too. Bears behaviors change as they prep for hibernation."

"I don't care. She has to eat," Alec insisted. "She's already missed a meal today and she has to eat twice as much just to keep up."

"We know, Alec," Dr. Gupta said. "We're already making plans in case it's needed."

"You mean if she doesn't wake up," he stated dully and she nodded.

"Most black bears wake somewhat when they give birth," Lambert offered professorially, "although they go back into in a sort of pseudo-hibernation until spring, even thought the cubs are suckling."

Alec had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from screaming. He paused to get his emotions back under control, and forced himself to think. "What if this isn't some sort of hibernation? What if she's just… shutting down?"

"It's possible. Her system may be failing, but-" Lambert said, and Alec felt his stomach drop. He also wanted to kick the guy's teeth in.

Peterson glared at Lambert to shut him up. "We're watching her very, very closely for any signs of trouble."

"Other than the coma," Alec said, and Peterson nodded. "Are we considering…" He cleared his throat. "Should we take the babies early?"

Dr. Gupta was already shaking her head. "The babies aren't in distress. Neither is Max. If this is just her body's way of conserving energy to help the babies, then we need to wait. The babies are better where they are, ok?"

"If we had to, are the babies viable at this point?" He had to force himself to ask. If he was going to prepare for the worst, then he needed to know.

Dr. Gupta and Dr. Peterson looked at each other, but it was Lambert who answered. "Maybe. Hard to tell with the uncertain due date."

Peterson shot him another glare and pointed toward the door. Lambert quickly scooted out into the main infirmary area.

"Very probably," Peterson corrected. "It would be early, but they're developed enough. Waiting as long as possible is best, though, especially when we're guessing about the timeline."

"We're going to take good care of her," Dr. Gupta promised, "of all three of them. We'll always do what's best for them, all right?"

Alec forced himself to nod. "Keep the bear expert away from me," he ordered.

"It's a given," Peterson replied solemnly, then broke into a compassionate smile. "She's holding her own, Alec. We think her body just made a few decisions without letting her know first."

Alec nodded again. He looked down at Max, who seemed like she was sleeping peacefully. Her face was thinner than it normally was. She'd been struggling to keep her weight up, no matter how much food Alec offered her. He had a horrible memory of Rachel lying in her bed at her father's mansion, wasting away, beautiful until the day she died.

He bent down and placed a kiss on Max's forehead. He brushed her hair back and whispered, "I'll be here when you wake up, Maxie. You take care of the kids and I'll handle everything else. I'll even keep Mole in line."

Alec's cell phone rang. He stood up and ripped it out of his pocket. It took everything he had not to throw it against the wall. "What?" he growled.

" _You're late for the meeting_ ," Mole said, immune to Alec's outbursts.

"What meeting?"

" _You_ _and Max are supposed to be the go-betweens for the potato people_ ," he replied. " _Conference room three. Move it_ ," he added and hung up.

Somehow, word hadn't gotten back yet to the people in Command. Everyone was so used to Max and Alec being at the infirmary these days, maybe they hadn't thought anything of it.

It was well into the afternoon now. They'd scheduled the meeting for later so the people from the two potato/tomato companies wouldn't have that long to yell at each other before quitting time.

Alec put his phone back in his pocket and straightened. The two doctors were looking at him worriedly, so he packed it away as best he could. He offered them a strained smile. "I'm good," he said. "I have to go to a meeting, but I'll be back right after. That ok?"

"Of course," Dr. Peterson said, clearly not one bit reassured. "Someone will be here and the equipment will let us know the second anything changes."

Alec squared his shoulders. He gave Max's hand one last squeeze of reassurance and headed for the door.

* * *

Alec walked into the conference room. Andrew Rafferty, his subordinates and his lawyers sat on one side of the conference table. Roger Stephenson, Cynthia Barclay and their team sat on the other. A hired mediator sat at the end of the table while the other remained empty except for Mole. Two chairs sat waiting for him and for Max.

Max. Who wasn't coming.

Several transgenic guards stood against the walls, but not Fred and Barney. Alec had called and ordered them to the infirmary. Some of the guards were from Alec's team who'd done some of the work for Agri-Genome. Some were from Charlie Team who'd done the work for FarmGene Technologies. All of them were one hundred percent sick of dealing with these people.

Alec in particular had zero patience. Zip, zero, zilch. Not to mention, he was angry.

Alec didn't know what he looked like, but the moment he walked in Mole stood and Slick came to attention, ready to do whatever his commander needed. The rest of the transgenics also knew something was wrong and they tightened up, ready to fight. Unfortunately, they couldn't fight their way out of this battle. He waved them all down, and they relaxed a bit, but Mole and the people on his team knew him too well.

"We were about to start without you," Mole said warily.

"You're going to have to continue without me," he replied.

Rafferty stood up, bristling. "I knew this was a waste of my time. You people lured me here under false pretenses. I was assured that you and Max would be leading this farce of a mediation attempt."

Not to be outdone, Stephenson also stood up. "If you can't even guarantee the basic setup that was agreed upon, then we have no reason to be here. These people aren't-"

"Sit down," Alec ordered. The words were quiet, but there was definite command in the tone, a warning as well.

He waited, and finally both men sat, still looking disgruntled.

"We brought you here because we are tired of going back and forth between your two companies while you spy on each other and steal from each other and plant false data, and on and on. There will be absolutely no more assistance from our company unless these talks continue. Is that understood?"

Rafferty frowned. "But-"

"Is. That. Understood?" he bit out. He waited for the leaders of both sides to nod.

"Where is Max?" Ms. Barclay asked. "She agreed to be here."

"My wife went into a coma this morning," he stated flatly. "Complications from the pregnancy."

There were gasps around the room. Mole took out his phone and started sending messages to let others know what was going on.

"I will not be here for the rest of this meeting for obvious reasons." He looked at Rafferty and Stephenson. "The mediator is here to help you. You two need to figure this out. We're recommending a joint project for your research. Mole has our suggestions for setting it up."

He wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to break every bit of furniture in the room and chase these idiots out of Terminal City. Instead he was standing here talking about their stupid genetically modified potatoes as if they mattered.

"Just do it," he ordered. "Get it done together and benefit both your companies instead of throwing money at us while you take pot shots at each other. Just do it," he said again, and his voice cracked. Alec shook his head, struggling to keep himself together. He turned to Mole. "You got this handled?"

"Absolutely," Mole answered. "Go."

Alec nodded and hurried out of the room. Maybe they would agree to the joint project idea, maybe they wouldn't. He didn't care either way. He had bigger things to worry about and Freak, Inc. wasn't taking one more project from either one of them until they got their crap together.

Alec made his way back to the infirmary. He needed to talk to the docs again. He needed to know what kind of equipment they might need, or anything else needed to care for someone in Max's state. As soon as he had a list, he'd scramble his team and they'd go.

After that, he'd stay with Max and do what he always did when they were alone. He'd sit and talk to the babies while they slept. He'd talk to Max now, too.

She always said he talked too much. This might be the first time he hated listening to himself, too.

* * *

 _The last chapter tomorrow… maybe. It's a long chapter and I'll do my best to pretty it up, but no promises. If not tomorrow, then definitely by Christmas._


	12. Chapter 12

_And here you have it. A little angst, and a lot of Christmas Hallmark-y goodness, etc..._

* * *

December

"Evening, Max." Alec bent down and kissed her stomach. "Baby One." He kissed a little farther over. "Baby Two."

Max was lying on her side. Alec had found a special hospital bed that had a mattress that inflated randomly in different spots. It was meant for patients who were at risk for pressure sores because of a lack of movement. They were turning her regularly as well, but they preferred her on her left side for the babies' sake. Something about putting too much pressure on something. They were always throwing medical information at him, and at this point he was just nodding.

They were still thinking that Max had a couple of months until her due date. She looked worse and worse, though, as the days passed. The babies were sucking her dry. They'd placed a feeding tube through Max's nose, which they were using to feed her almost constantly, as well as to give her medication, along with the IV fluids and meds. It wasn't enough, though. The babies were getting big and needing more and more. Max's organs were showing signs of strain, and the doctors were getting concerned.

"Everybody have a good day?" he asked, and as usual there was no response. "That good, huh? Everybody already had their dinner, too?" He moved the chair up closer to her. "Good to hear."

It was getting late, and most of the infirmary was deserted. There were a couple of people hanging around in case of a disaster, but the rest were all tucked in their beds. They'd already dimmed all the lights, including the ones in Max's room to cue her brain that it was nighttime.

"Been a long day." Alec sat down and rested his head next to Max's. "Looks like you had a pretty long day yourself," he whispered. "Hard work keeping the kids in line, huh?" He brushed a hand over her dull, patchy hair. "I know they're a handful, Maxie. You can manage 'em, though."

Alec sighed and brushed a finger over her sunken cheek. "You got this, Max. Just a little longer. Not too long, though. I need you to wake up for me. I'm getting kind of desperate here." He huffed out a tired laugh. "Don't tell anybody I said that. They think I'm keeping it together."

He could almost hear her response. _Don't worry. They already know you're an idiot._

"Yeah, but it's just theory right now. I don't want to make it a fact."

 _A theoretical idiot is still an idiot when he's talking to a comatose wife_.

"Don't I know it. Still… has to be done. I had a rule to make you laugh every day, and I'm not stopping now just because you're ignoring me."

 _I always ignore you. It's how I stay sane._

"Says the woman who married me twice."

 _I was making a political statement. You just happened to be there._

"Do you always hire a caterer when you make political statements?"

 _I was pregnant and hungry. Sue me._

"Still hungry, aren't you, Maxie?" He sighed. "The liquid diet's just not cutting it. I promise I'll fix everything in the kitchen for you when you wake up."

One of the doctors poked their head in. "Everything ok tonight, Alec?"

"She's a chatty one, but I told her she needs her rest."

"Ok," the woman said, used to his terrible jokes by now. "Let me know if you need anything." She left him alone, and he heard her sit back down at the far desk where there was a TV.

"I need my wife," he whispered.

* * *

"What about the Perkins job?" Alec asked. He and Mole were in his office going over the day's jobs.

"Delta Team will be done tomorrow, as long as everything goes to plan. They should be back by Monday," Mole said.

"I've got a note here about a call from Rafferty?"

Mole snorted and chomped on his cigar. "If you can believe it, they're sending us a shipment of potatoes to thank us for helping set up the joint research project. They say the research is showing promise."

"I'm thrilled," Alec said. "Nothing says thank you like potatoes. They pay their bill?"

"Yup."

"Then I hope we never hear from them again, potatoes or no potatoes."

"I was kinda hoping for tomatoes, myself. Maybe I should call Stephenson and tell him about the potatoes." He grinned around his cigar. "He'll send a truckload just to outdo Rafferty."

Alec just smirked. "Hoping for some ketchup with your fries? Didn't know lizards ate either one."

"I didn't know jackasses like to eat fists, but I'm about to ram mine down your throat."

"Wow. Didn't know lizards were so touchy either. Manticore must've stirred some badger in your cocktail."

"Don't be stupid. It's snapping turtle," Mole shot back, and shuffled the papers in front of him. "Secretary Gordon's people called. A catering employee took off with some sensitive info from an embassy in Canada. His people have run out of ideas."

"Put Bravo Team on it. Dirk's ribs are all healed up?"

"Yeah. I'll let them know."

"Slick check in yet?" Alec's team had been working without him for the most part the last few weeks. Currently, they were in China bringing in an undercover agent who'd been exposed and needed assistance exiting the country.

"Negative. He's still within his window though. Has another couple of hours."

"Ok. Just let me know. We can scramble Echo Team if there's a problem. Anything else?"

"Yeah." Mole waited until Alec raised his head and looked at him. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Huh?"

"Exactly."

"I'm fine. We've got a business to run and we're all working overtime with Max down."

"Yeah, but we're not all spending every second of our downtime in the infirmary with her. You're running on fumes."

"Maybe so." Alec just shrugged. "But that's the way it has to be, so just let me do what I gotta do."

Mole shifted his cigar from one side to the other. "Uh huh."

Alec had to admit he was grateful for the concern. Mole, Dix, Luke, and every other person had made allowances for him. They'd all stepped up to help. Given how they'd all been raised, it always amazed him that they weren't all sociopaths just out for themselves. They really did work well as a team.

Mole was definitely right, too. Alec _was_ running on fumes. He felt exhausted, stretched thin and ready to break. Every waking moment that he wasn't working, he was with Max. He didn't know what else to do. He sat and held her hand. He talked to her and the babies. He read sometimes. He played the radio. He told her about the missions she was missing. He talked until he wanted to weep from exhaustion and frustration. All the while, he watched as she was fading in front of his eyes. He was losing her.

"Speaking of… Is there anything else?" he asked.

"Nope. We're bringing everybody in, pretty much. Christmas in a few days and all. Everybody's going to try to take some time."

"Sounds good," Alec said. He gave him a tired smile. "Might even get some sleep."

Mole just grunted. "Whatever. Go on. I know you want to get back to Max."

Alec just stood up and pulled his jacket on. "I'll tell her you said hi."

* * *

"Hey, Big Fella."

"Alec!" Joshua said happily.

Alec had decided to stop by to see his friend. It's was Christmas Eve. Well, Christmas Eve morning. Everybody was back in TC for the holiday for the most part. That meant there wasn't a whole lot to do to keep his mind occupied. He'd read in a chair next to Max's bed for a while, but he'd been going stir crazy, so he decided to take a break.

"What you working on?"

"Painting for nursery."

Alec just nodded. He'd spent a lot of time getting the nursery in their apartment ready. It had absolutely everything he could think of that Max and the babies might need. He hated that Max hadn't been there to see it all come together, and tell him how she wanted things.

"It'll be great," Alec said. "We've got a perfect place for it."

"Alec have breakfast?" When he shook his head, Joshua let out a doggie whine of distress, and headed to his little kitchenette. In no time flat, he had some eggs, toast and some little sausages that he always kept on hand. He shoved the plate into Alec's hands. "Eat," he ordered.

Alec let out a tiny huff of amusement, which was about all he could manage at the moment. He was so tired, he barely knew if he was hungry or not. Nevertheless, he picked up the fork Joshua had propped on the plate and began to eat.

"Sit on sofa," Joshua ordered. He walked to his mini-fridge and poured out a glass of milk. He set it on the side table by the couch where he wanted Alec to sit. "Medium fella be quiet and eat. Joshua needs to paint."

"Far be it from me to offend the artist when the muse is upon him."

Joshua snuffled and scrunched up his nose, then pointed at the sofa. "Quiet. Eat."

Alec sat down and kept picking at the food. He watched Joshua as he walked back to his easel and began shuffling through his supplies looking for a particular color. Soon enough, he was humming, using his brushes to create… well, Alec wasn't too sure what it was, but that was ok. He finished his breakfast and set the plate down on the table. He drank the milk as well.

He set his head back, and watched. Joshua kept humming a tune Alec couldn't quite place. The brush rhythmically skimmed and scratched across the canvas. In the next apartment, he could hear people laughing. They were wrapping packages or something, but it was a distant pleasant hum in the background.

Alec's eyes began to droop, and he didn't have the strength left to fight it. He didn't have the strength for much of anything. He didn't have Max. He felt like he was missing half of himself, his better half. She was the one who knew right and wrong. She was the one who kept him headed in the right direction. She was fading away, day by day. He'd lost a lot of people, but this was different.

The last thing he felt was Joshua putting a blanket over him. "Sleep," Joshua said. "Wake you up when painting ready for nursery."

* * *

Alec walked into the infirmary and headed toward Max's room. He sped up, however, when he saw a group of doctors heading in to see her. They only worked in herds when something was up.

"What's going on?" he demanded, furious that something was happening and nobody had called to tell him. He'd slept for longer than he should have on Josh's sofa, but Joshua had just shrugged and said he needed it.

"What is going on?" Alec demanded more loudly, when no one paid him any attention.

Dr. Gupta looked up and saw him. She elbowed Peterson, and nodded toward Alec. Peterson took the hint and moved to head him off.

"Let's go outside. We need to talk," Peterson said.

Alec allowed himself to be led back into the main room. "What is it?"

"We're doing another assessment, but-"

Peterson stopped talking when there was a flurry of movement from Max's room. They were opening up part of the wall so they could move the bed.

"Talk to me, Peterson," Alec demanded.

"One of the babies is in distress," the vet said. "The heart rate's dropping and we're not getting as much movement."

"And?"

They both paused as Max was wheeled out of her room toward the surgical suite. Alec's eyes widened when he realized what this meant.

"We're prepping for a C-Section," Peterson said, confirming Alec's suspicion.

"Why didn't you call me?" he demanded.

Peterson raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather I take care of Max, or stop and make a few calls?"

"Fine." This was getting him nowhere and it was a moot point now. "What's next?"

"Next we get you in a gown and we go deliver your babies. Come on."

Peterson grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the surgical area. It wasn't all that different looking from the rest of the infirmary, but it was closed off so they could work in peace without crazy transgenics wandering in and making a scene.

Alec was helped into a gown and ordered to stay up by Max's head while they worked. They even hung a sheet just past Max's neck, so Alec couldn't see everything they were doing.

He hadn't been prepared for this. Not today. He was supposed to be a father in a couple of months. The painting Joshua had made for the nursery wasn't even dry. He was going to have two babies in just a few minutes. What was he supposed to _do_?

He didn't have Max.

Max was supposed to be here. She was supposed to be taking care of them right alongside him.

Then he remembered what else Peterson had said. One of the babies was in distress. Their heart rate was dropping.

No one had prepared him for any of this. It only took _minutes_. He was going to be a father _now_.

No one had prepared him for the smell either. Why hadn't anyone warned him? He had a transgenic sense of smell, and this was almost enough to knock down a rhino: blood, amniotic fluid, every other awful smelling thing a body under stress could produce.

He heard the small clank of surgical tools. Instead of looking, he bent down and brushed his hand over Max's hair. "Almost there, Max. We're almost there. Just a few more minutes, then they'll be here and you can wake up, ok. Just a little bit longer."

An infant's cries cut through the sounds of the room, and Alec felt his heart swell to the point of bursting. He was a father. There were lots of sounds, and movement, and he couldn't tell what they were up to. Finally, one of the medical people brought the baby around so Alec could see. It was a little girl.

They took her to a side table and began cleaning her up. The rest of the doctors remained, however, and Alec turned his attention back to them. He looked around the sheet partition. They were pulling his son through the incision they'd made. They used some sort of suction thing to clean out his son's nostrils and mouth, but there were no cries this time.

Time seemed to slow as Alec realized his little boy wasn't breathing. The team closed around the child as they worked. Alec wanted to bulldoze his way through so he could see what was happening, but he ordered himself to stay. These men and women knew what to do and he didn't.

Alec leaned down. "They're working on him, Max. Just hold on, ok?" He moved around the sheet again so he could see. It looked like CPR, but slightly different for an infant. Alec held his breath and counted. One… two… He closed his eyes like the coward he was. He couldn't bear to watch.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Twenty Five.

Thirty.

At thirty-two, the cries of a second child filled his ears and Alec sobbed in relief. He put his hands down on either side of Max's head. He leaned down and kissed her lips. "It's ok, Maxie. It's ok." He sobbed again, and didn't care who heard it. His children were both breathing, both crying, both _alive_.

Alec looked up and saw they were carrying his son to a second table that was set beside his sister. They set to work cleaning him up as well, all the while, he squalled and squalled, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

Dr. Gupta appeared in his line of vision. She seemed a little frazzled, but she was smiling. "The cord was wrapped around him," she said. "He got twisted up and gave us all a good scare."

"I think I just lost ten years," Alec said, and it was close to a rasp.

"They're fine now, Dad. Why don't you go say hello?" She took him by the arm and walked him closer to the group surrounding his children. They were still a little crusty looking, but the cords had been clipped and cut.

"Five pounds, two ounces," Peterson said. "They're a bit early, but your daughter looks very healthy." He was smiling broadly. He turned and without asking, placed the child in Alec's arms. He fumbled a bit in surprise, but accepted the baby.

Suddenly, a fresh terror spread through his veins as he looked down at her. He cradled her carefully. He knew exactly what his hands were capable of. He'd been using them to harm, maim and kill for as long as he could remember, and now this baby was relying on him to care for her.

"It's going to be all right, Alec," Peterson said kindly. "You'll figure it out. Everyone does."

Alec just nodded, unable to speak. His mind and heart were a jumble of fear, gratitude, love, worry, and a dozen other emotions.

And Max wasn't awake to hold her little girl.

Dr. Gupta and the others were giving his son a more thorough inspection after the problematic birth, and Alec left them to it. He walked back toward Max. A pair of medical people stood on either side of her, taking care of her and closing her up. Alec left them to their work as well. He held their little girl close to Max.

"You have to wake up now, Max. You have to meet her. She's as beautiful as her mother. Maybe more beautiful." There was no response and Alec sighed. "Ok, you rest. Just not too long. I need you, Maxie. They need you, too."

* * *

Max blinked her eyes open. It took a few moments for them to focus. It took several more for her mind to focus as well.

"Where…" She coughed. Her mouth felt like something died in it. "Where am I?"

Her body felt heavy, like she could barely move. She reached up, her arm shaking with the effort, and felt the tube running through her nose and down through her throat.

Max looked to either side of her and recognized one of the longer term rooms in the infirmary. The last thing she remembered was going to bed in her apartment. She looked down and her eyes widened. Her baby belly was _gone_. If anything she looked thinner. Panic gripped her.

The babies. What _happened_?

Max tried to roll over but was hindered by her lethargic muscles and all of the lines attached to her. Her heart was pounding, but she had to find someone.

"Hey, Max," Dr. Peterson said, coming through the door. "Setting off alarms this morning, huh?" He suddenly stopped when he looked at her. "Max!" He rushed to her side, and broke into a wide grin. "You're awake!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" she croaked, and coughed again past her dry throat.

"Max, let me take a look at you and then we can talk. You've missed-"

Max grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him closer. "What happened to the babies?"

"They're fine," he soothed. "You have a beautiful boy and girl. They're with Alec, ok?"

Max released him and fell back to the bed, exhausted by that little bit of exertion.

"Just give us a minute to check you, all right?"

Peterson ran for the door before she could grab him again. He was quick for an ordinary.

A few minutes later, Peterson returned with several more people, all of whom were smiling. They drew blood, and checked her vitals. One of them suggested removing the feeding tube, and Max was whole heartedly for that, since it was bothering her the most. Removing it was also one of the oddest sensations, and one she never wanted to experience again.

After that, they gave her a mug of water and ordered her to sip it slowly. All the while, Max wiggled her toes, her ankles and feet, working her way up. She was stiff, as if the muscles hadn't been used in too long.

"Alec brought in a physical therapist," Dr. Peterson said. "They did their best to work your muscles every day, but it might still take some time to get back to full strength. Knowing you guys, though, not nearly as long. Your muscles are… I'll be nice and say weird."

"How long was I out?"

Peterson looked at the others and with a sharp nod, told them to wait outside. Since they were well aware of Max's occasional blow-ups when told bad news, they practically bolted.

The doctor backed up until he was just out of grabbing range as well. "Max, you've been asleep for the better part of two months."

"Months?" she said in horror.

"We think your body was so severely stressed, you went into a sort of energy saving mode, almost like hibernation."

"I wasn't…" Max felt tears beginning to form. "I missed it. The babies were born and I was asleep?"

Dr. Peterson nodded. "Yes, you were, and I'm truly sorry for that."

"Two months." She tried to get her foggy brain to think. "We were thinking February. Were they early?"

"They were born several days ago," he explained. "One of the babies was in distress, your son. We performed an emergency caesarean. Your daughter was born first and was fine. We had a little trouble with your little boy, though. He wasn't breathing, but we were able to help him very quickly."

Max quit breathing herself. Her son had almost died and she'd _slept_ through it. What kind of mother was she? She'd already messed up right out of the gate.

"He's ok, though?"

"He's fine." Peterson gave her a reassuring smile. "He stayed with us a little longer than his sister, just to make sure, but they're both home now with Alec."

She brushed the tears away and forced herself to focus on the more important business at hand. The babies were fine. They were alive. They were with Alec, and she needed to see them.

"When can I get out of here?" she asked.

"Do you want me to call Alec?" Peterson asked, rather than answer.

Max immediately shook her head. "No, I'll go. I want them home, and I want to be there with them."

Peterson just sighed. "You're going to pull all the lines anyway as soon as I turn my back, aren't you?" Max just raised an eyebrow. "Because let me tell you, pulling the catheter is not something you want to do before we deflate it."

"Still don't care."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. As long as the blood work comes back on the up and up, then we'll get all the lines off you and I'll get somebody to help you to your apartment. You have to promise me several things though."

"I'm listening."

"One, you have to promise me you'll take it easy." She simply nodded. "Two, you have to promise you will come back if anything, and I mean _anything_ , seems off." Again, she nodded. "Three, you will come back tomorrow either way for a checkup. The babies are supposed to come in then anyway, so you should be coming as well."

"No problem."

"Four," he said, and Max could tell this was the most important, "go easy on Alec, ok?"

"What's wrong with him?" she asked worriedly.

"He's been watching you night and day for two months. He's worn himself to the bone trying to take care of this place, and take care of you, and the whole time you were wasting away in front of his eyes. He was barely keeping it together, Max. We were all hoping you would wake up after the birth, but it's been almost a week. Alec's been to see you every chance he gets, but we were starting to give up hope and he could tell. Just… go easy on him."

"I will. I just need to see my babies," she said. It was like an ache that was getting stronger the longer she sat there. "I need to go."

"I can tell him you're awake. I'll ask him to bring them-"

"I'm about to start pulling these lines," she warned.

Peterson held up his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok." One of the other doctors came in with a piece of paper. Peterson glanced at it and smiled. "Labs look good. These anyway. The others will take a bit longer, but I know you won't stay." He clapped his hands. "Let's get you free then, shall we? Nothing personal, but we're all kind of tired of looking at you."

"Thank you," she said. "I owe you."

Peterson laughed. "I'll remind you of that next time I ask for a raise."

* * *

Joshua stopped outside the door to Max's apartment. He'd helped her get there from the infirmary. He'd started out half-carrying her, her muscles were so weak and under-used, but a transgenic's muscles were unbelievably quick to be reconditioned. By the time they got to the apartment, she was exhausted, but a little more stable on her feet. Given a few days, she would be back up and running. She wasn't starting from complete zero either because of the physical therapist Alec had brought in to work with her while she slept.

Joshua released her, and then pulled her into a crushing hug. "Joshua happy Little Fella awake."

"Me, too, Big Fella." She was also glad when he let her go. She was feeling a bit more delicate than usual.

"Now go see Alec. See babies."

"You don't want to come in?"

Joshua shook his head. "Later. Now, Alec need you. Babies need you." He gave her a big, sloppy kiss on her forehead, and then headed back to his own apartment.

Max couldn't wait any longer. She opened the door and walked inside, holding on to the door jamb. At first sight, nothing looked any different. All of the furniture was in the same place. Nothing was broken, or missing.

On closer inspection though, she could see the differences. There were little things that had been left out, small blankets and cloths, a diaper on the table, a half-filled bottle.

She looked down at herself. Her breasts weren't any different. Whatever had happened meant she wouldn't be breastfeeding apparently.

She heard Alec in the next room talking and she headed that way, using various pieces of furniture as stabilizers. She was getting very tired, but she wasn't going anywhere near a nap when she'd been asleep so long and missed everything. She'd missed the _birth_.

She stopped in the doorway and saw Alec swaying back and forth with a tiny baby, all swaddled up in his arms. Alec was in stocking feet, wearing a black t-shirt, and some old jeans. His hair was longer than she remembered, and mussed.

"Better now?" he asked. "New diaper, had a little bit to eat. What more could a little guy want, huh? Maybe a nap? Every guy likes a nap now and then, don't we?" He continued swaying back and forth, smiling down at the child.

Max looked past him and saw the other baby was lying in the crib, apparently fast asleep. She took a moment to look at the nursery and it sent a fresh wave of pain through her. She and Alec had picked out some of what she saw, but they'd been so busy they hadn't put the nursery together yet. Now it was all arranged, and there were new items added that they'd talked about, but not found. Joshua had added one of his paintings as well, and she was happy to see it, even if she was sorry she'd missed when he'd delivered his present.

"Alec?" Max said softly.

Alec startled and looked up. His mouth dropped open and for several seconds he just stood there. It gave her a chance to look at him. There were dark, dark circles under his eyes, and he looked thinner, sadder.

"Max?" he whispered. He turned away from her and gently set the baby down in the crib. He then turned back and in two strides, he was standing in front of her. He tentatively set his hand against her cheek, as if to ensure himself that she was real. She leaned into his touch, and it was like a dam breaking. He wrapped her in a crushing embrace, and let out a sob. He held her and lifted her off her feet. He kissed her face over and over, all the while saying her name. Suddenly, he set her back down and framed her face with his hands, examining her. "Are you all right?" he demanded.

"Muscles are a little weak, but I'm ok," she answered. "You?"

"Don't worry about me," he said, and smiled widely. "Come over here."

Alec put his arm around her and drew her toward the crib. They had two cribs, but both babies were in one at the moment. Alec and Max stood at the side, and gazed down at them. The little girl was fast asleep, wrapped up in her blanket. The baby Alec had been holding was still awake, however. Alec picked him up again, and turned to Max. "This is Kit." He looked down at the baby. "Kit, do you want to meet your mom? She finally woke up and she wants to talk to you."

"Kit?" Max asked. It wasn't one of the names they'd talked about, not that they'd ever settled on anything.

Alec just nodded and moved closer. Max held out her arms and let Alec transfer the tiny bundle to her. It was as if that one small movement made her entire world shift on its axis. She was holding her son. He wasn't a figment of her imagination anymore. He was real, and so, so beautiful.

"Hello, Kit," she whispered. She brushed a finger across his cheek, and felt how soft his skin was. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

Alec set a hand on her back to urge her to look into the crib again. "This is Merry. Which fits, I guess. We've all been saying she's a contented little baby. Doesn't cry very much."

"All?" Max asked.

"Gem's been helping, and Joshua. O.C.'s been here a couple of times. Stat, too." Max nodded, remembering that Stat had also been through a difficult pregnancy, but finally delivered a beautiful little boy. "They've been showing me the ropes, and giving me a break or two."

Max kept one arm around Kit, and leaned into the crib to set her hand against her tiny daughter's chest. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of the baby's breathing while she slept on. "Hello, Merry."

"She'll be awake before too long," Alec said quietly. "Then you can meet her properly."

Her arm was starting to get tired. She looked down and saw that Kit had closed his eyes. Alec must have realized what was happening. He gently accepted the boy and then placed him back in the crib to rest near his sister.

"Kit," Max said thoughtfully. "Why that name?"

Alec scratched a hand through his hair nervously, which struck Max as odd. "It's, uh… short for Christmas. That's his name. Kit for short."

Max just stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. Of all the names they'd considered, of all the conversations they'd had, and this was what he'd done?

"Tell me you're joking," she said. She kept her voice low because she didn't want to wake the babies.

Alec winced. He scrunched up his face, and shrugged.

"You named our kids Merry Christmas?" she hissed. She threw her hands up in complete disbelief. "This is what happens when I leave a six year old in charge."

Alec's face completely changed, and Max felt her heart constrict painfully. She remembered Dr. Peterson's condition to go easy on Alec. The expression on his face now told her she'd broken that promise. Alec looked… _crushed_.

"No," he rasped, "this is what happens when you spend week after week watching your wife wasting away, thinking you're going to lose her, and then you're going to lose the two little lives that are draining her dry. Then it's Christmas Eve and you've been given the most beautiful, most precious gift that anyone has ever given you, two perfect children. And you're terrified that the woman you love isn't going to be there to raise them. She's not even there to help you give them a name.

"And then it's Christmas morning and you're alone with them and you promise them you're not going to fail them like you did their mother. They're going to have everything they need, when they need it, and not a second later, and that includes a name. And you're looking at these helpless, beautiful, precious gifts, and you think maybe the last thing your wife has ever done was to give you these two children. And you think, thank you, Max. Thank you for our babies. Merry Christmas."

Alec was breathing hard and Max could see that the past weeks had pushed him almost beyond his limits. He'd watched Rachel waste away and then Max had left him to watch it again with the added burden of their children hanging in the balance.

"Max, I didn't know what to do. You wouldn't wake up. Even after the birth, you wouldn't wake up. I-"

She stopped him with a kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and he peppered her face with kisses. He held her tightly, and Max stayed in his arms, swaying back and forth, almost a dance. Her handsome, brave, soldier of a husband held onto her like a drowning man to a lifeline. She could feel how terrified he'd been that he had lost her and would have to raise their children alone.

"I've missed you so much," he whispered. "I thought…" He squeezed her more tightly as if afraid she would disappear.

"I'm here," she said. "I'm right here. I'm mad, but I'm right here."

He released his hold. He pulled back so he could look at her, but kept his hands on her arms. "I could have named him Bucephalus, you now."

"Not about that," she huffed a bit of a laugh, then added more seriously, "I missed the birth."

"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry you missed a single second with them. They're already bigger than when they were born."

"Can you tell me about it?" she asked tentatively. She felt like she'd missed something crucial that she could never get back.

"Sure." He looked away, and once again she could see how scared he'd been, how alone. He swallowed heavily. "When Kit wasn't breathing… I couldn't watch," he admitted quietly, ashamed. "I couldn't do it."

Max set her hand against his cheek. "I love you," she whispered. "I'm sorry I left you alone in all this."

He shook his head. "I had lots of help."

"I know you were still alone."

"Maybe." His breathing hitched. "Please, don't do it again," he said softly, trying to control his voice.

She pursed her lips. "No hibernating. Got it."

He clamped his mouth closed, the muscles ticking in his jaw. He nodded, unable to speak he was so overwrought at having her back.

"It's ok," she said when his chin wobbled. "I'm here now."

He nodded again, and she saw him pack it away for another time. He gave her a watery smile. "It's about time, too."

They heard a sound of one of the babies waking, a stuttered sort of baby noise, and it was music to Max's ears. Together, she and Alec walked to the crib and looked down. Their daughter was awake, smacking her lips, while her brother was now fast asleep.

Alec leaned into the crib and picked her up. "Hello, Merry. I've got someone I want you to meet," he whispered. He leaned close so Max could see her. "This is your mom," he said. "She's a little late to the party, but you're going to love her."

"Hello, Merry," she cooed. She ran her hand gently, cautiously over her daughter's head, smiling at the feel of the tiny wisps of baby hair. Her hands were starting to shake, and she quickly drew away for fear of startling the baby.

"Sorry," Max said quietly. "Been standing too long. My muscles are going to take a few days."

"Let's go sit," Alec suggested. "Can you bring Kit?"

Max nodded. She didn't care if it killed her. She was going to pick up her son and carry him. She leaned into the crib, and carefully picked him up. It was a little awkward, but she had to hope she would get better at it. When she had him nestled in her arms against her chest, the little boy drew in a deeper breath and then let it out again, smacking his lips a bit as he slept. Max liked to think it was in contentment now that he had both his parents to take care of him.

She'd dreamt about her babies for so long. She'd daydreamed about what they would look like, about what they would act like. Nothing had prepared her for how beautiful they were. It felt like her heart was too full.

Max followed Alec back into the living room. She tried to sit down on the sofa gently, but bobbled a bit when her atrophied muscles gave out on the descent. Kit woke at the jostling. He let out a bit of a surprised squawk, then immediately started crying.

Horrified, Max looked up at Alec. He just shook his head and grabbed something from a bag sitting on the side table. She saw it was a pacifier, and he popped it into the squalling infant's mouth. It took a few seconds, but finally he settled.

Alec grabbed a throw pillow and set it on Max's lap. "That'll help until you're back to being my warrior maiden with iron muscles." He laughed, clearly happy at the thought, and then walked toward the kitchen.

Max made a face at him, but she had to admit she needed it. She let the pillow take most of the weight of the child in her arms, and simply kept him surrounded while he sucked at the pacifier.

Max's eyes wandered back to the kitchen. Alec was still holding Merry, so he was working one handed, but he looked like he'd been doing a lot of that lately and knew what he was up to. She recognized the bottle warmer they'd found. He removed a bottle and tested it against the skin of the arm holding Merry. It must have been ok, because he popped the bottle into Merry's mouth and then walked back toward the sofa.

Alec sat far more gracefully than she had and, together, they sat side by side, simply watching their children.

"That painting in the nursery?" Max asked.

"Don't ask me." Alec shrugged. "Joshua said it was for the nursery and I hung it up. He was so proud I hated to tell him I had no clue what it was."

Max smiled at that. "That's ok. It brightens up the place."

"Feel free to move everything around in there," he said, a frown pinching his brow. "I set it up the best I could, but I didn't know where you'd want-"

She shook her head to stop him. "It's perfect," she assured him, and looked down at the babies. "They're perfect." She ran her finger over Kit's cheek, and the little guy sleepily squinched up his face a bit, and made her smile. She could even deal with their names. She looked back up at Alec. "You did good," she said, "considering I left you hanging for a couple of months."

Alec let out a slow breath of relief. He suddenly looked exhausted, and set his head back against the sofa. She wondered if he'd been holding that breath since the day she fell asleep.

Max leaned closer, and set her head on his shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Alec."

Alec kissed the top of her head, and then leaned his cheek against her. "You slept past Christmas," he said. "It's been a week."

"Happy New Year, then," she said, thinking, hoping, that the coming year would be better than the one before. With the children they held in their arms, she didn't see how they could fail.

"Happy New Year, Maxie."

* * *

 _Well, that's all, folks! Hope you enjoyed this little year of vignettes. A very happy New Year to all of you, too._


End file.
